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OF  THE 


TO  Investigate 


H;  U.  SIMS^  Chairman 

JAMES  BGWRON 

H.  Au  ELKOURIE^  M.D. 
WE.  PERRYMAN 
WHiKETTlG 

R.;h.  Deicer 
G.  G.  ELLIS 
A.F.HILLEKE 


BIRMINGHAM.  ALA. 

,;  JANUARY,  1915 


l*ReMIIEI«  RRINTINO  CO. 


53ir- 

REPORT  OF  THE  SUB-COMMITTEE  TO  INVESTI¬ 
GATE  THE  CITY’S  EXPENDITURES. 

Birmingham,  Ala.,  January  15,  1915. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Committee  of  One  Hun¬ 
dred  : — 

We,  the  undersigned  Sub-Committee,  appointed  by  you  to 
examine  and  report  upon  the  possibility  of  curtailing  the  City’s 
present  expenditures,  now  respectfully  submit  our  report. 

We  were  appointed  by  you  on  December  26,  1914,  in  re¬ 
sponse  to  a  letter  of  Hon.  George  B.  Ward,  President  of  the 
Board  of  City  Commissioners,  a  copy  of  which  is  hereto  attached 
as  Appendix  I,  requesting  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to 
make  a  thorough  examination  of  the  municipal  work  of  the 
City  of  Birmingham  and  report  their  findings,  together  with  their 
suggestions  as  to  what  branches  of  municipal  service  should  be 
abolished  in  case  the  municipal  revenues  cannot  be  increased. 

Our  examination  has  not  been  as  detailed  as  the  President  of 
the  City  Commission  seems  to  have  desired,  but  the  time  within 
which  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred  must  form  their  conclu¬ 
sions  as  to  the  relief  for  the  City’s  finances  to  be  asked  of 
the  State  Legislature,  is  growing  short,  and  we  feel  that  our 
conclusions  of  fact  regarding  the  City’s  affairs  are  sufficiently 
accurate  to  be  made  the  basis  of  action  by  the  General  Com¬ 
mittee. 

To  accomplish  as  complete  an  examination  of  the  City’s 
operations  as  was  possible  under  the  circumstances,  we  divided 
our  work  into  departments  to  correspond  with  the  main  di¬ 
visions  of  the  City’s  activities,  and  assigned  one  of  our  number 
to  each  division,  the  Chairman  of  this  Sub-Committee  being 
joined  with  the  member  to  whom  was  allotted  the  largest  de¬ 
partment,  that  under  control  of  the  Board  of  Education.  Each 
member  has  made  a  separate  report  in  writing  upon  his  depart- 

'  1 


ment;  and  these  reports,  after  being  heard  and  considered  by  our 
Committee  as  a  whole,  have  been  adopted  as  the  basis  for  this 
report  of  the  Committee.  These  sub-reports  are  hereto  attached 
as  Appendixes  II  to  X,  and  are  made  a  part  of  this  report.  The 
allotment  of  departments  was  made  as  follows : 

Dr.  Elkourie,  Health  and  Sanitation,  except  street 
cleaning  and  sprinkling;  Mr.  Bowron,  Highways  and 
Street  Cleaning  and  Sprinkling;  Mr.  Perryman,  Fire 
Department;  Mr.  Kettig,  Police  and  Detective  Depart¬ 
ments;  Mr.  Walker,  General  Government;  Mr.  Shook, 
Charity,  Recreation,  Play  Grounds,  Parks  and  Li¬ 
braries;  Mr.  Ellis,  Building  Inspection,  Electric  In-* 
spection.  Plumbing  Inspection,  Weights  and  Measures; 

Mr.  Hilleke,  Municipal  Industries,  North  Birmingham 
Water  Works  and  Electric  Lighting  Plant;  and  Mr. 
Sevier  and  Mr.  Sims,  Education. 

< 

/ 

t 

Our  conclusion  as  a  whole  is  that  the  administration  of 
the  City’s  affairs  has  been  efficient  and  economical.  The  work 
of  every  department  should  be  commended;  and  when  we  con¬ 
sider  the  fact  that  the  City’s  current  income  is  far  less  than 
that  of  any  other  city  in  the  country  of  125,000  or  more  popu¬ 
lation,  with  one  possible  exception,  it  is  surprising  that  we  are 
getting  so  much  for  our  money.  Each  of  the  appended  sep¬ 
arate  reports  shows  that  if  the  public  desire  the  continued  de¬ 
velopment  of  all  the  present  municipal  departments,  they  must 
furnish  more  money  rather  than  retrench;  for  none  of  them 
can  be  run  much  more  economically  and  still  justify  their,  ex¬ 
istence.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  Department  of  Health 
and  Sanitation,  the  Department  of  Highways  and  Sewers,  the 
Police  Department  and  the  Schools.  So  that  the  problem  of  re¬ 
ducing  expenses  is  about  what  President  Ward  says  in  the  let¬ 
ter  asking  the  appointment  of  this  Committee,  the  determin¬ 
ing  on  what  branches  of  municipal  service  the  people  must 
give  up. 


2 


It  must  be  admitted  that  under  public  pressure  expendi¬ 
tures  have  been  made  in  some  directions  at  a  sacrifice  to  oth¬ 
ers  which  would  seem  to  us  more  essential  to  the  public  safe¬ 
ty.  Perhaps  the  most  essential  function  of  municipal  govern¬ 
ment  after  the  provision  of  water  and  light,  is  the  protection  of 
public  safety  by  an  ample  Police  Department.  Our  Police  De¬ 
partment  is  much  too  small.  At  night  we  have  only  forty  po¬ 
licemen  on  duty;  with  the  result  that  in  certain  quarters  of  the 
town,  not  far  from  the  very  centre,  grocery  stores  have  been 
broken  open  almost  every  night  by  shattering  the  front  windows ; 
and  personal  assaults,  and  even  homicides  are  not  uncommon 
in  many  sections  of  the  town,  as  a  necessary  result  of  the  ut¬ 
ter  inability  of  the  police  to  cover  the  territory  assigned  to 
them.  If  the  income  of  the  City  cannot  be  increased,  it  is  evi¬ 
dent  that  many  other  departments  should  be  cut  off  rather  than 
further  reducing  the  police  force.  Indeed,  the  Police  Depart¬ 
ment  should  receive  more  funds,  even  at  other  departments’ 
expense;  and  in  this  connection  the  less  important  departments 
need  not  be  specified,  for  if  opinions  materially  differ,  several 
departments  might  bear  reduction  proportionately  to  increase  the 
fund  for  public  safety. 

We  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  recommending  the 
abolition  of  any  branches  of  the  City’s  activity  if  revenues  can 
be  rajsed  to  supply  them.  They  are  all  doing  good  work;  and 
in  the  main  there  is  little  expense,  so  far  as  we  have|  been  able 
to  review  the  work,  which  admits  of  criticism  in  comparison 
with  the  accepted  field  of  municipal  government. 

A  few  changes,  however,  might  be  made  to  advantage,  even 
if  the  present  scale  of  current  expenditures  is  not  altered.  We 
do  not  approve  of  the  method  in  vogue  of  dispensing  charity. 
The  City  spent  last  year  nearly  $19,000  in  appropriations  to 
charity,  besides  some  $2,000  to  maintain  the  Welfare  Depart¬ 
ment;  and  most  of  this  was  donated  to  the  various  charitable 
institutions,  without  any  apparent  rule  for  determining  the  needs 
of  each  one.  Some  of  them  appear  to  us  to  be  duplicate  or¬ 
ganizations,  and  some  of  them  are  State  institutions. 


3 


A  Board  of  Public  Welfare  of  which  Mr.  J.  D.  Moore  is 
Chairman,  was  organized  during  the  past  year  or  two  in  re¬ 
sponse  to  a  general  demand  that  all  charities  be  investigated; 
and  it  would  seem  that  the  distribution  of  municipal  charities 
might  well  be  entrusted  to  that  or  some  similar  agency,  to  the 
economic  advantage  of  the  City. 

Again  we  learn  from  the  very  full  report  of  one  of  our 
Committee  (Mr.  Bowron)  on  the  streets  and  their  maintenance 
and  repair,  that  considerable  current  expense  is  incurred  in 
that  department  from  the  failure  to  extend  pavements  in  cer¬ 
tain  quarters  where  conditions  warrant  the  property  owners 
being  required  to  pay  for  them.  The  streets  in  some  of  our 
most  closely  settled  residence  sections  are  still  unpaved;  and 
where  they  are  hilly,  “a  street  newly  cherted  may  have  ruts  in 
some  cases  six  or  eight  inches  in  depth  cut  by  heavy  rainstorms 
within  a  few  months  next  ensuing.  There  are  cases  of  streets 
being  cherted  three  times  within  two  years,  and  we  think  the 
expense  of  the  department  in  such  cases  should  be  reduced  by 
such  a  light  form  of  pavement  being  put  down  as  will  at  least 
be  water  proof,’’  instead  of  being  carried  by  the  general  fund 
of  the  City. 

Similar  economies  in  the  current  expenses,  we  learn  from 
the  same  report,  can  be  attained  by  a  reasonable  extension  of 
the  sanitary  sewers  into  quarters  from  which  sewage  material 
is  now  hauled  in  City  wagons.  Surface  closets  alone,  now  cost 
the  City’s  general  fund  over  $10,000  a  year,  much  of  which  is 
an  unjust  expense  to  put  upon  the  entire  community,  when  the 
property  owners  immediately  benefited  should  bear  it  by  pay¬ 
ing  for  sanitary  sewer  extensions. 

Moreover,  certain  departments  supposed  to/  be  self-sup¬ 
porting  will  bear  careful  consideration  to  determine  whether  the 
City  is  realizing  from  them  what  is  believed.  We  have  inves¬ 
tigated  the  public  utilities,  water  works,  and  electric  lighting 
plant  owned  and  operated  by  the  City  in  North  Birmingham, 
and  can  see  no  economy  to  accrue  to  the  City  in  the  extension  or 


4 


even  in  the  continued  operation  of  these  plants  in  their  present 
inadequate  condition. 

We  submit  the  above  suggestions  to  the  discretion  of  the 
City  Commission  with  a  view  to  the  actual  reduction  of  the 
municipal  current  expenses.  We  have  now  to  call  attention 
to  certain  administrative  changes  which  could  be  made,  we  think, 
to  the  benefit  of  the  City’s  finances,  even  though  the  amount 
of  money  actually  spent  might  not  be  materially  less. 

The  present  deficit  confronting  the  City  of  $880,460.22, 
accumulated  during  the  three  fiscal  years  ending  September  30, 
1914,  and  amounting  now,  including  an  estimate  of  the  obliga¬ 
tions  that  have  been  incurred  in  excess  of  revenues  during  the 
last  three  months  to  about  $1,000,000,  has  arisen  in  great  part 
from  making  investments  and  outlays  from  the  general  reve¬ 
nues  of  the  City  which  might  more  properly  have  been  paid  for 
by  the  proceeds  of  bonds  issued  specially  for  the  several  pur¬ 
poses.  The  fund  from  which  the  City  pays  interest  on  its 
bonded  debt  is  not  that  which  is  causing  anxiety:  indeed  it  is 
accumulating  into  a  sinking  fund  more  rapidly  than  need  be. 
Therefore,  any  expenditures  now  made  from  the  general  reve¬ 
nues  which  could  be  legitimately  capitalized  instead  of  being 
carried  as  yearly  expense,  should  be  met  by  bond  issues,  even 
though  the  issues  be  small  and  recurring  every  twO'  years. 

At  present  something  over  $3000  per  year  is  paid  as  rent 
for  temporary  quarters  for  schools,  which  might  well  be  paid 
from  the  interest  fund  on  a  bond  issue  used  to  purchase  build¬ 
ings,  for  the  purpose  to  which  rented  buildings  are  now  put. 

Again,  the  present  accumulated  deficit,  includes  something 
over  $120,000  paid  out  of  the  general  fund  for  the  acquisition 
of  lots  for  schools  and  improvements  of  school  buildings ;  and 
little  additions  and  constructions  to  provide  more  room  for  the 
schools  seem  to  be  made  regularly  from  the  general  fund. 
Therefore,  when  deficiency  bonds  are  issued  as  will  probably  be 
done  again  soon,  the  cost  of  these  improvements  is  included  in 
the  deficit,  when  it  might  better  be  met  by  special  bond  issue, 
thereby  reducing  the  class  of  bonds  the  amount  of  which  is 

5 


limited  by  the  State  Constitution ;  for  no  city  can  issue  bonds  for 
general  purposes  to  the  amount  of  more  than  seven  per  cent, 
of  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  property  in  its  limits,  while 
bonds  for  school  buildings  are  not  counted  in  the  restriction. 

On  the  same  principle  the  present  deficit  was  increased  by 
about  $140,000  on  account  of  parks  purchased  during  the  last 
three  years,  and  also  by  the  cost  of  the  new  Avenue  F  prison, 
about  $65,000.  These  are  permanent  investments  to  be  used  by 
the  public  indefinitely,  and  might  well  have  been  paid  for  by 
bonds  issued  expressly  for  the  purpose.  It  is  true,  that  such 
bonds  could  not  be  excluded  from  the  limitation  of  seven  per 
cent,  on  the  assessed  valuation  of  Birmingham  property;  and 
whenever  the  public  debt  is  approaching  that  limit  such  pur¬ 
chases  as  parks  should  not  be  made.  But  outlays  for  the  pur¬ 
chase  of  parks  and  prisons  and  fire  stations  are  in  no  sense 
proper  annual  expense. 

In  short,  the  $880,460.22  total  deficit  existing  on  Septem¬ 
ber  30,  last,  included  large  capital  outlays,  not  merely  those 
incidental  to  increasing  the  Fire  Department,  the  Street  De¬ 
partment  apparatus,  and  other  things  required  by  a  growing 
City,  and  of  uncertain  durability,  but  also  some  $360,000  of  per¬ 
manent  investments  which  the  Commission  have  thought  wise  to 
make. 

This  $120,000  of  school  structures  and  school  lots  should 
have  been  paid  for  by  a  school  bond  issue ;  and  these  parks  and 
City  buildings  should  have  been  paid  for  in  special  issues.  And 
if  the  people  did  not  want  to  vote  for  the  issues,  they  would 
have  known  what  they  were  foregoing  for  economy’s  sake. 

A  small  issue  of  bonds  is  no  objection  to  any  one  but  the 
broker,  who  may  want  to  buy  them;  it  makes  their  payment 
easier  for  the  public  to  meet  at  maturity,  and  encourages  the 
purchases  of  securities  at  home.  And  if  they  sometimes  sell 
at  a  slightly  higher  rate  of  interest  than  large  issues,  they  cost 
the  City  no  more  than  the  present  practice  of  buying  on  part 
payment  notes  or  options,  and  meeting  the  maturing  payments 
by  loans  from  the  banks. 


6 


The  policy  which  has  been  pursued  arose,  no  doubt,  from 
the  mistaken  idea  that  the  purchase  of  a  park  distributed  over 
several  years  in  small  payments  was  as  well  provided  for  as  if 
paid  for  in  bonds ;  but  the  City’s  present  status  in  the  eyes  of  the 
citizens,  proves  the  fallacy  of  the  policy.  The  real  deficit,  then, 
of  the  City  Treasury  for  the  three  years  ending  September  30, 
1914,  should  have  been  about  $525,000,  instead  of  $880,000, 
and  that  includes  $100,000  interest  on  bills  payable,  part  of  which 
was  paid  to  the  banks  to  take  up  notes  issued  for  time  pay¬ 
ments  on  purchases,  and  part  of  which  was  paid  upon  these 
payments  themselves,  when  such  portions  of  the  interest  would 
have  been  carried  by  the  interest  fund  if  the  purchases  had  been 
made  with  bonds  at  the  time,  thereby  both  relieving  the  general 
fund,  and  also  avoiding  the  inclusion  of  any  interest  in  the  prin¬ 
cipal  of  the  bonds  when  eventually  issued. 

But  it  is  just  to  the  City  Commission  to  observe,  that 
they  did  not  inaugurate  this  policy  of  making  investments  on 
time  payments.  They  found  the  custom  thoroughly  in  vogue, 
and  in  some  instances  could  not  correct  it  at  once,  even  had 
they  tried,  because  the  notes  were  already  issued,  and  to  sub¬ 
stitute  bonds  for  them  before  maturity  would  present  legal  dif¬ 
ficulties. 

The  conclusion  must  not  be  formed,  however,  that  be¬ 
cause  some  of  the  City’s  deficit  could  have  been  avoided,  all 
of  it  was  unnecessary.  The  operation  of  municipal  corpora¬ 
tions  involves  what  are  called  ordinary  running  expenses  and 
in  addition  what  are  called  extraordinary  running  expenses,  the 
whole  being  styled  governmental  cost.  For  the  last  fiscal  year, 
the  ordinary  current  expenses  exceeded  the  revenues  by  about 
$150,000,  and  doubtless  unavoidably;  but  during  the  two  pre¬ 
ceding  years  the  ordinary  revenues  and  expenses  were  not  ma¬ 
terially  apart. 

Ordinary  expenses  can  be  foreseen,  and  so  are  easily  pro¬ 
vided  for.  It  is  the  extraordinary  expenses  which  cause  con¬ 
cern,  expenses  which  are  just  as  necessary  as  ordinary  expenses, 
and  which  must  be  expected  every  year,  but  in  variable  amounts, 

7 


like  renewals  and  extensions  to  the  fire  equipment  and  street 
equipment,  and  Health  Department  equipment.  These  expenses 
in  nearly  every  city  in  the  country  of  the  size  of  Birmingham 
are  met  from  the  current  revenues,  or  general  fund,  and  our  gen¬ 
eral  fund  must  be  large  enough  to  cover  them  or  deficiency  bonds 
will  continue  to  be  issued  and  the  City’s  bonded  debt  will  there¬ 
by  continue  to  pile  up. 

So  far  the  bonded  debt  is  not  alarmingly  large,  and  an 
interest  fund  and  sinking  fund  are  being  wisely  guarded  to  care 
for  it;  but  there  are  limits  to  the  interest  fund,  and  we  urge 
the  prudence  of  having  no  more  deficiency  bonds  after  the  pres¬ 
ent  deficiency  is  funded,  unless  unforeseen  conditions  arise. 

We  reiterate  that  we  do  not  recommend  the  abolition  of 
any  branch  of  the  City’s  activities,  if  revenues  can  be  raised  to 
supply  them  all;  but  we  were  requested  to  express  our  opinion 
where  reduction  should  be  made  if  no  material  increase  in  reve¬ 
nues  for  the  City  is  obtained  by  authority  of  the  Legislature 
and  the  public.  We  will,  therefore,  point  the  way  where  re¬ 
trenchment  can  be  made  with  the  least  apparent  harm  to  the 
general  welfare,  and  it  is  for  the  public  to  say  whether  they  de¬ 
sire  it  instead  of  any  plans  for  relief  which  may  be  presented. 

First,  of  course,  some  salaries  would  have  to  be  reduced; 
and  that  would  require  beginning  the  reduction  at  the  Commis¬ 
sioners  themselves,  whose  salaries,  though  not  large  as  elective 
offices  with  the  attendant  expense  of  campaigns,  are  out  of 
proportion  to  other  elective  offices  in  the  State.  By  reducing 
the  Commissioners’  salaries  to  $5000  each,  something  over  $5000 
a  year  would  be  saved.  Next  the  salaries  of  all  heads  of  de¬ 
partments  should  probably  be  fixed  at  the  same  salary  as  that 
of  the  head  of  the  legal  department,  $3600  a  year,  making  a  sav¬ 
ing  of  $2,600.  Then  in  the  license  department  there  might  be  a 
saving  of  $480,  and  in  the  engineer’s  office  an  assistant  might  be 
dispensed  with,  at  a  saving  of  $2200.  Then  the  offices  of  City 
Health  Officer  and  that  of  City  Physician  might  be  combined  at 
a  saving  of  $1,200.  Then,  if  the  revenues  cannot  be  increased 
there  might  be  a  cut  of  10  per  cent,  on  all  salaries  of  $100, 

8 


and  over,  in  the  Fire  Department,  thereby  saving  about  $4000,  not 
to  mention  possible  cuts  of  some  salaries  in  other  departments. 
Thus  the  salary  saving  would  be  at  least  $15,000. 

If  the  salaries  of  the  Commission  were  reduced  to  $5000, 
the  salary  of  the  superintendent  of  schools  ought  probably  to  be 
reduced  to  something  below  $5000,  which  it  is  at  present;  but 
in  that  event,  that  officer  should  be  furnished  an  automobile, 
whereas  he  now  attends  to  his  duties  in  his  own  car.  So  the 
reduction  on  his  salary  would  not  be  an  important  saving,  if 
any.  In  that  department  a  large  saving  could  be  made,  how¬ 
ever,  by  abolishing  all  free  school  books,  costing  last  year  $16,- 
815.17.  Free  school  books  cost  $11,600  in  1913,  and  about 
$6300  in  1912.  They  began  in  1911.  Thus  about  $17,000  could 
be  saved  in  the  Educational  Department.. 

Then  if  the  people  desire  to  reinstate  the  tuition  of  $2  a 
month  per  pupil  formerly  charged  in  the  high  schools,  an  emer¬ 
gency  revenue  of  at  least  $18,000  might  be  added  from  that 
source. 

Coming  then  to  the  Departments  which  might  be  tempo¬ 
rarily  suspended,  or  thrown  upon  popular  support  for  exis¬ 
tence,  we  would  begin  by  cutting  off  the  City  Beautiful  Plan¬ 
ning  Department  at  a  saving  of  $1200 ;  then  cut  off  all  aid  to 
charities  together  with  the  Welfare  Department,  thereby  sav¬ 
ing  $21,000;  then  cut  off  the  playgrounds,  $4,300;  then  the 
.Avondale  Zoo,  $1775 ;  then  all  attention  to  the  parks  beyond 
keeping  them  generally  clean,  thereby  saving  about  $20,000 ; 
and  lastly  cut  $9,000  of  the  $15,000  now  appropriated  to  the 
libraries. 

These  suggestions,  if  adopted,  would  avoid  about  $107,000 
of  the  current  expenses,  without  considering  the  saving  which 
might  be  made  if  every  economy  is  observed  in  extraordinary 
expenses  to  be  met  during  the  coming  year,  and  which  of 
course  cannot  be  estimated  in  advance. 

We  may  also  note  that  the  City  might  save  an  additional 
$24,000  a  year  in  the  annual  ordinary  expenses  of  water  from 
fire  hydrants  by  accepting  the  urgent  offer  of  the  Birming- 

9 


ham  Water  Works  Company  to  re-enact  the  contract  for  re¬ 
duced  rates  which  was  repudiated  by  the  people  before  the 
present  litigation  was  started. 

The  offer  seems  to  be  conditioned  upon  the  City’s  with¬ 
drawing  its  present  litigation  against  them  involving  their 
franchises;  and  the  merits  of  litigation  we  do  not  pretend  to 
decide.  But,  of  course,  the  offer  should  be  carefully  consid¬ 
ered  if  no  increased  revenue  is  obtained,  and  since  the  offer 
seems  to  be  urged  as  a  compromise  for  good  of  the  City 
finances  as  well  as  for  the  water  company,  we  presume  that  it 
will  not  be  withdrawn  before  the  City’s  financial  situation  is 
determined. 

It  is  well  for  the  public  to  consider  now  whether  they  de¬ 
sire  the  City  government  to  be  conducted  on  the  above  ex¬ 
tremely  reduced  scale;  and  we  hope  it  will  not  become  neces¬ 
sary  to  do  so ;  but  if  no  revenue  is  provided,  the  economies  we 
have  suggested  and  many  others  not  now  capable  of  indentifi- 
cation,  undoubtedly  must  be  instituted. 

We  must  remember,  moreover,  that  some  of  the  present 
sources  of  revenue  mjly  be  soon  cut  off.  During  the  last  fiscal 
year  the  City  received  about  $142,500  revenue  from  liquor 
licenses,  and  it  appears  that  state-wide  prohibition  will  be  in 
force  by  July  1,  1915.  In  the  light  of  that  probability  economy 
or  increased  revenue  will  be  even  more  necessary  than  it  is 
now. 

After  having  completed  our  investigations  this  sub-com¬ 
mittee  was  charged  with  the  additional  duty  of  investigating 
the  sinking  fund  maintained  by  the  City  for  the  discharge  of 
the  bonded  indebtedness  when  it  reaches  maturity. 

It  has  seemed  unnecessary  to  adopt  the  suggestion  to  em¬ 
ploy  a;'special  accountant  to  verify  the  figures  given  us  by  Pres¬ 
ident  Ward  as  shown  by  the  Comptroller’s  books  for  this  fund, 
since  we  have  not  employed  an  accountant  to  verify  the  offi¬ 
cial  statements  from  the  books  for  other  funds  and  depart¬ 
ments  of  the  City  government. 

Accepting  the  statement  furnished  us  as  true,  therefore, 
the  sinking  fund  was  $18,662.02  on  January  1,  1907,  and  had 

10 


accumulated,  on  September  30,  1914,  to  $267,169.80,  about 
$131,000  of  which  was  acquired  during  the  last  fiscal  year  of 
that  period.  The  law  requires  one  half  of  all  the  present  in¬ 
come  from  taxes  on  real  and  personal  property  to  be  applied 
first  to  interest  on  outstanding  bonds,  and  then  to  a  sinking 
fund  for  their  redemption.  And  therefore  just  as  the  property 
taxes  increase,  the  sinking  fund  increases  in  proportion.  For 
some  time  after  1899  when  the  sinking  fund  began  by  law,  the 
interest  on  the  bonds  was  more  than  the  half  of  the  property 
taxes  required  to  be  set  apart  for  it,  so  that  there  was  no  sink¬ 
ing  fund  at  all  until  1905  when  the  taxes  first  became  enough 
to  provide  one. 

Exactly  how  the  sinking  fund  should  be  invested,  causes 
some  trouble,  however.  Our  recommendation  would  be  to 
use  any  portion  of  it  not  held  for  immediate  redemption  in  the 
purchase  of  the  City  bonds  outstanding. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

HENRY  UPSON  SIMS,  Chairman, 
JAMES  BOWRON, 

E.  SEVIER, 

H.  A.  EEKOURIE,  M.  D., 

W.  E.  PERRYMAN, 

W.  H.  KETTIG, 

^  R.  H.  WALKER, 

G.  C.  ELLIS, 

A.  F.  HILLEKE, 

P.  G.  SHOOK. 


11 


CITY  OF  BIRMINGHAM  BOARD  OF 
COMMISSIONERS. 


APPENDIX  I. 

December  20,  1914. 

Hon.  S.  J.  Bowie,  Chairman, 

City. 

Dear  Sir: — In  view  of  the  statement  made  by 
several  citizens  that  retrenchments  sufficient  to  off¬ 
set  the  deficit  should  be  made  in  the  budget,  would 
it  not  be  well  to  have  Tuesday’s  meeting  appoint  ‘a 
strong  sub-committee  of,  say,  five  or  ten  men,  to 
make  a  thorough  examination  of  our  municipal  work 
and  report  their  findings. 

This  committee  should  make  the  work  thorough, 
for,  in  my  opinion,  most  of  the  dissatisfaction  now 
existing  is  due  to  lack  of  information  as  to  the  wide 
scope  and  magnitude  of  this  city’s  work  and  the  direct 
benefit  of  such  work  to  each  tax-payer. 

The  problem  this  committee  will  be  confronted 
with  is  not  so  much  the  reduction  of  salaries,  as  many 
seem  to  think,  but  a  question  of  cutting  out  entire 
departments.  This  means  they  must  single  out  the 
particular  branches  of  municipal  service  that  shall  be 
dispensed  with. 

For  instance,  if  the  Fire  Department  is  touched, 
what  stations  and  how  many  will  be  abandoned? 

If  none  are  abandoned  and  the  number  of  men 
to  a  station  reduced,  how  shall  it  be  arranged  to  man 
the  machines  and  get  them  to  a  fire? 

As  the  question  of  salaries  seems  to  be  more  acute 
than  any  other,  it  may  be  well  to  say  here  that  if  all 
the  cuts  in  salaries  that  have  been  proposed  were  put 

12 


into  effect,  hardly  one-tenth  of  the  deficit  would  be 
provided  for. 

Therefore,  since  it  will  narrow  down  to  a  prop¬ 
osition  as  to  what  branches  of  municipal  service  the 
people  must  give  up,  it  seems  fair  that  they  or  their 
representatives  should  have  a  chance  to  say  which 
departments  these  shall  be. 

If  this  suggestion  meets  the  approval  of  your 
meeting,  the  Commission  will  be  glad  to  co-operate 
and  furnish  all  information  that  may  be  desired  to 
the  sub-committee. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be. 

Yours  most  respectfully, 

(Signed)  GEO.  B.  WARD,  President. 

APPENDIX  II. 

Birmingham,  Ala.,  January  6,  1915. 

Mr.  H.  U.  Sims,  Chairman, 

City. 

Dear  Mr.  Sims — Pursuant  to  your  request,  I  have 
endeavored  to  investigate  thoroughly  both  the  San¬ 
itary  and  Health  Departments  of  the  City.  Bearing 
in  mind  the  present  financial  condition  of  the  City,  I 
determined  to  find  a  place  in  these  Departments, 
where  I  could  for  the  benefit  of  the  City  recommend 
a  reduction  in  expenditures,  and  thereby  save  the 
City  some  funds ;  but  I  am  forced  by  overwhelming 
evidences  to  recommend  the  diametrically  opposite 
to  what  I  believed  I  would  do  in  the  beginning,  viz: 
An  increased  force  and  thus  an  increased  expendi¬ 
ture  in  both  of  the  Departments  I  have  herein  al¬ 
luded  to. 

The  health  of  the  people  of  this  great  City  must 
be  guarded,  and  no  degree  of  efficiency  is  too  great  for 

13 


the  perpetual  welfare  of  the  community  in  matters 
of  health.  The  present  force,  on  account  of  the  great 
area  which  Birmingham  occupies,  is  absolutely  in¬ 
adequate  to  render  a  thorough,  necessary  and  bene¬ 
ficial  service  such  as  needed  in  this  mos'*’  important 
Department.  I  have  gone  into  the  question  of  salaries 
in  these  Departments  very  minutely,  and  I  find  that 
the  salaries  are  in  all  instances,  with  perhaps  one  ex¬ 
ception,  reasonable,  and  in  many  instances  below 
normal. 

I,  therefore,  unhesitatingly  say  that  in  the  De¬ 
partments  of  Health  and  Sanitation  the  City  of  Bir¬ 
mingham  is  much  in  need  of  additional  force  and 
expenditures.  In  conclusion  I  am  prepared  to  verify 
my  statements  by  evidence  uncontradictable,  and  it 
will  be  a  pleasure  for  me  to  demonstrate  to  any  citizen 
of  Birmingham  the  justification  of  my  position. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

DR.  H.  A.  ELKOURIE. 

APPENDIX  III. 

Birmingham,  Ala.,  January  2,  1915. 

Mr.  H.  U.  Sims,  Chairman, 

Steiner  Building,  City. 

My  Dear  Sir: — Pursuant  to  the  instructions  re¬ 
ceived  from  you,  I  have,  in  company  with  City  Com¬ 
missioner  Weatherly,  Street  Commissioner  Gafford, 
and  City  Engineer  Kendrick,  visited  and  inspected 
the  work  and  methods  of  the  Street  Department  of 
the  City  of  Birmingham.  This  inspection  has  nec¬ 
essarily  included  the  subject  of  sewers  and  the  col¬ 
lection  and  disposition  of  garbage  and  other  refuse, 
for  the  reason  that  this  responsibility  rests  entirely 
upon  the  Street  Department,  and  is  discharged  by  it. 

14 


In  the  course  of  this  inspection  I  have  visited  North 
and  East  Birmingham,  East  Lake,  Woodlawn,  Avon¬ 
dale,  North  and  South  Side,  West  End,  Graymont, 
Ensley,  Fairfield  and  Wylam.  During  the  inspec¬ 
tion  at  Ensley  I  had  the  company  and  benefit  of  an¬ 
other  member  of  the  committee,  Mr.  A.  F.  Hilleke. 

I  found  that  the  City  of  Birmingham  has  ap¬ 
proximately  400  miles  of  streets  in  use  and  200  miles 
of  alleys,  besides  250  miles  of  dedicated  streets  which 
are  not  in  general  use ;  300  miles  of  sanitary  sewers, 
and  215  miles  of  storm  sewers.  The  streets  in  use 
would  reach  in  a  straight  line  from  Chattanooga  to 
Mobile,  and  yet  the  600  miles  of  streets  and  alleys 
and  500  miles  of  sewers  have  only  150  men  to  look 
after  them  for  the  purpose  of  daily  labor  in  main¬ 
tenance,  of  repairs,  cleaning  and  removing  trash, 
refuse  and  filth.  The  distance  to  be  covered  within 
the  city  limits  from  East  Eake  to  Wylam  is  about 
15  miles,  or  an  average  of  10  men  per  mile  of  City. 
I  think  this  statement  is  sufficient  to  show  that  the 
force  is  inadequate. 

The  main  streets  and  avenues  I  have  found  to  be 
in  excellent  condition,  considering  the  weather  exist¬ 
ing  in  the  middle  of  winter,  and  the  cross  streets  in 
fair  condition.  In  the  course  of  a  day  and  a  half  of 
active  automobile  travel  going  from  point  to  point, 
I  have  found  only  one  district  that  could  be  called  in 
bad  condition,  namely.  East  Birmingham ;  this  partly 
due  to  the  overflow  of  the  creek  which  has  largely 
filled  up  its  bed  with  gravel  brought  down  by  storms 
and  overflows  throughout  the  district.  An  under¬ 
taking  to  straighten  and  deepen  and  confine  this  creek 
to  its  borders  is  highly  desirable,  but  will  be  costly, 
and  it  would  be  out  of  the  question  that  the  property 
of  that  neighborhood  should  be  assessed  with  the 
cost.  With  the  inspection  of  this  district  I  have  been 
surprised  to  find  the  small  proportion  of  street  area 

15 


which  is  in  a  defective,  or  even  dirty  condition,  and 
I  am  greatly  surprised  at  the  amount  of  work  which  is 
accomplished  with  so  small  a  staff. 

The  work  arising  out  of  the  streets  may  be  di¬ 
vided  into  two  classes:  (a)  that  of  construction;  (b) 
of  maintenance  and  cleansing.  The  work  of  con¬ 
struction  is  performed  by  contractors  who  receive 
their  contracts  after  a  competitive  bidding.  It  is  nec¬ 
essary,  under  the  statute,  to  define  in  an  improvement 
ordinance  the  nature  of  the  material  proposed  to  be 
used,  and  therefore  the  City  resorts  to  a  pro  forma 
bidding,  at  which  the  various  contractors  make  their 
bids,  designating  the  material  which  they  will  fur¬ 
nish,  and  the  City  Commission,  with  the  advice  of 
the  City  Engineer,  decides  upon  the  most  advanta¬ 
geous  bid  and  the  material  involved;  then  passes  a 
permanent  ordinance,  and  takes  a  formal  bid,  having 
the  guarantee  of  the  previous  bidder  that  he  will 
maintain  his  previous  offer.  The  paved  streets  of 
the  City  include  ten  different  classes,  and  are  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 


Kind  of  Paving.  Miles. 

Wood  block _ 1.28 

Brick _ 14.40 

Asphalt _ 4.17 

Granite  block _ 2.17 

Concrete _ 2.43 

Asphaltic  concrete _ 4.03 

Granitoid _  .91 

Bitulithic _ 20.74 

Rock  asphalt _  .45 

Bituminous  binder _ 8.31 


58.89 


16 


There  has  been  some  confusion  in  the  past  with 
reference  to  the  construction  of  paved  streets,  owing 
to  the  efforts  of  rival  contractors  upon  petitions  to 
obtain  recommendations  of  abutting  property  owners 
as  to  the  material  to  be  used,  thus  exciting  some 
measure  of  rivalry.  This  has  also  led  to  some  variety 
in  the  classes  of  pavement  put  down,  and,  in  some 
cases,  there  has  been  doubtless  misunderstanding  on 
the  part  of  property  owners  as  to  the  ultimate  cost 
to  accrue  from  the  improvement  for  which  they  were 
signing  the  petition,  especially  in  the  case  of  the 
owners  of  corner  lots,  which  have  been  charged  with 
an  extra  amount  for  the  intersection  of  the  streets. 
As  a  result  of  this,  some  pavements  have  been  put 
down,  even  before  the  commencement  of  the  City 
Commission  regime,  which  have  been  more  costly 
than  was  satisfactory  to  the  property  owners,  and 
protests  and  refusals  to  pay  have  been  very  numerous. 
In  addition  to  this,  a  great  deal  of  work  was  under¬ 
taken  by  the  different  adjacent  municipalities  prior 
to  their  incorporation  with  the  City  of  Birmingham- 
under  the  act  of  the  Legislature  creating  Greater  Bir¬ 
mingham.  Claims  were  made  in  various  cases  that 
these  ordinances  were  technically  incorrect,  and 
therefore  invalid,  and  the  refusals  to  pay  were  very 
numerous.  I  am  informed  that  the  City  Commission, 
in  its  early  days,  had  nearly  or  quite  5,000  cases  pend¬ 
ing  of  this  character,  and  that  the  greater/ part  of  the 
time  of  the  Commissioner  of  Streets  for  his  first  two 
years  in  office  was  required  to  be  devoted  to  straight¬ 
ening  out  these  disputes  on  the  best  terms  obtainable. 
Some  had  to  be  litigated,  and  others  had  equity  in 
them  and  compromises  were  made.  It  is  estimated 
that  in  the  aggregate  the  City  may  have  lost  $290,- 
048.31  on  this  ground. 

N.  B. — (Page  4)  of  which  $237,352.72  is  charged 
against  the  annexed  towns. 

17 


Progress  is  being  made,  however,  and  this  De¬ 
partment  appears  to  be  now  well  systematized  and 
the  system  of  petitioning  by  rival  pavement  salesmen 
has  been  discontinued.  The  Commission  has  the 
authority  to  order  a  street  to  be  paved  where  it  deems 
it  necessary,  but,  out  of  consideration  for  the  abutting 
property  owners,  it  has  been  very  patient  and  sought 
in  every  way  to  avoid  forcing  pavements  contrary 
to  the  wishes  of  the  neighborhood.  I  feel  that  in  this 
matter  some  injustice  is  done  to  the  City  at  large  and 
the  expense  of  the  Department  unreasonably  in¬ 
creased. 

I  have  heard  some  criticism  as  to  the  wisdom  of 
paving  Twenty-sixth  Street,  and  inspected  the  work 
being  done  there.  There  were  two  reasons  for  se¬ 
lecting  Twenty-sixth  Street  in  preference  to  Twenty- 
fourth  or  Twenty-fifth: 

First,  that  it  admitted  of  a  3  per  cent,  grade,  being 
the  easiest  haulage  street  now  existing  between  the 
central  city  and  North  Birmingham. 

Second,  that  the  cut  necessary  to  accomplish  this 
involved  a  change  of  the  grade  of  the  street,  and, 
owing  to  the  land  on  both  sides  being  in  the  posses¬ 
sion  of  one  owner  who  waived  claims  for  damages, 
w’hereas,  if  either  of  the  other  streets  had  been  se¬ 
lected  there  would  have  been  a  hundred  owners  with 
whom  to  settle  or  litigate  such  claims.  On  account  of 
the  street  railroad  bearing  a  substantial  part  of  the 
expense,  the  city  is  only  assuming  about  $4,000  apart 
from  the  amounts  which  will  be  collected  by  assess¬ 
ment,  and  the  establishment  of  a  north  and  south  bou¬ 
levard  is  of  sufficient  importance  to  justify  this  ex¬ 
penditure.  Other  extensions  of  the  paved  streets  are 
highly  desirable.  It  is  not  yet,  however,  entirely  a 
settled  question  as  to  the  most  desirable  material  to  be 
employed.  The  wood  block  pavement  and  bitulithic 
are  extremely  satisfactory  for  heavy  traffic,  but  the 

18 


crying  need  of  the  City  is  for  a  lighter  and  cheaper 
pavement  for  residential  or  light  traffic  streets  which 
will  wear  well  and  turn  the  moisture.  Experiments 
along  this  line  are  still  being  made,  and  the  City 
Engineer  is  keeping  in  close  touch  with  the  experi¬ 
ence  of  other  cities. 

In  the  maintenance  and  keeping  in  repair  of  these 
streets,  the  paved  streets  are  infinitely  better  as  call¬ 
ing  for  little  attention.  Where  an  upper  crown  has 
been  given  to  the  surface  so  as  to  shed  the  water, 
these  streets  should  wear  almost  indefinitely.  Bir¬ 
mingham  is  noted  for  its  wide  streets  and  avenues, 
but  in  the  residential  districts  this  very  width  imposes 
an  unreasonable  tax  upon  the  city ;  in  the  case  of  un¬ 
paved  streets ;  to  lay  the  dust  in  summer  or  to  remove 
the  mud  in  winter.  The  very  width  prevents  a  proper 
camber  being  given  to  the  section,  and  the  wide  flat 
streets  wear  into  holes. 

This  is  a  hilly  city,  and  it  is  impossible  to  main¬ 
tain  a  macadamized  street  on  a  hillside  against  ero¬ 
sion.  A  street  newly  cherted  may  have  ruts  in  some 
cases  six  or  eight  inches  in  depth  cut  by  heavy  rain¬ 
storms  within  a  few  months  next  ensuing.  There  are 
cases  of  streets  being  cherted  three  times  within  two 
years,  and  I  think  the  expense  of  the  Department  in 
such  cases  should  be  reduced  by  such  a  light  form  of 
pavement  being  put  down  as  will  at  least  be  water¬ 
proof,  and  that  the  owners  of  the  adjacent  property 
ought  to  be  willing  to  bear  this  expense,  instead  of 
it  becoming  incumbent  on  the  general  fund  of  the 
city. 

I  found  that  the  question  of  keeping  the  streets 
clean,  which  involves  the  removal  of  disagreeable  or 
offensive  matter,  links  itself  with  the  sanitation  of  the 
City.  The  Health  Department  handles  all  questions 
of  inspection,  but  the  physical  removal  of  all  refuse, 
garbage  and  the  contents  of  surface  closets,  dead  ani- 

19 


mals,  etc.,  is  handled  entirely  by  the  Street  Depart¬ 
ment,  with  the  limited  force  already  specified.  I  con¬ 
sider  this  arrangement  as  decidedly  advantageous 
over  the  separate  handling,  which  has  been  sometimes 
proposed.  It  permits  an  elastic  distribution  of  wagons 
and  of  the  convict  force,  so  that  a  shortage  at  one 
point  may  be  made  good  from  another  in  a  way  which 
could  not  be  done  to  produce  the  same  efficiency  if 
there  were  two  separate  and  distinct  forces  employed, 
of  men  and  wagons,  involving  separate  foremen  and 
superintendents.  At  the  present  time,  the  cost  of 
the  Street  Commissioner  is  prorated  between  the  two 
departments.  I  attach  hereto  a  schedule  of  the  sal¬ 
aries  and  rates  of  wages  paid  in  this  department.  The 
system  of  accounting  is  good.  A  record  is  kept  of 
the  places  where  each  separate  squad  has  worked  each 
day,  showing  the  number  of  men  employed,  either 
free  labor  orconvict,  the  name  of  the  foreman  orguard, 
the  number  of  loads  of  dirt,  slag,  chert  or  sanitary 
refuse  moved.  The  distribution  of  cost  in  the  Comp¬ 
troller’s  office  appears  to  be  accurate  and  intelligent. 
None  of  the  work  in  this  Department  is  performed  by 
contract,  and  no  free  labor  is  employed  except  for 
foremen  and  for  the  drivers  of  the  wagons,  who,  in 
many  cases,  must  carry  the  loads  alone  to  their  des¬ 
tinations  and  return,  and  it  would  be  entirely  too  ex¬ 
pensive  to  employ  convicts  in  that  capacity,  as  they 
must  be  guarded.  From  my  own  experience  in  the 
employment  of  labor,  I  do  not  consider  any  of  the 
salaries  or  wages  paid  in  this  Department  as  exces¬ 
sive  or  unreasonable.  The  combined  oversight  of 
hundreds  of  miles  of  streets  and  sewers,  the  distribu¬ 
tion  of  150  men  over  a  city  15  miles  in  length,  charged 
with  the  responsibility  of  maintaining  and  repairing 
the  streets  and  sewers,  the  removal  of  all  refuse,  and 
the  care  and  custody  of  the  convicts  and  mules  so  em¬ 
ployed  demands  a  high  order  of  executive  ability,  and 

20 


I  think  that  the  City  is  ably  served  by  Mr.  F.  H.  Gaf- 
ford,  and  that  he  is  producing  results  that  are  dis¬ 
tinctly  to  be  commended. 

The  convict  labor  is  charged  against  the  respec¬ 
tive  jobs  on  which  it  is  employed  by  the  City  Comp¬ 
troller  at  the  actual  cost  of  maintenance  of  the  pris¬ 
ons.  This  figure  appearing  on  his  books,  including 
the  item  of  guarding,  which  has  heretofore  been  dis¬ 
tributed  separately,  and  which  I  think  should  be 
merged  with  the  prison  costs  for  accounting  pur¬ 
poses,  is  93.2  cents  per  head  per  day  of  labor  obtained. 
This  includes,  however,  the  entire  cost  of  the  North 
Side  and  Ensley  prisons,  which  should  be  divided  to 
ascertain  the  proper  cost  of  the  maintenance  of  streets 
and  sewers,  as  the  North  Side  prison  is  used  for  de¬ 
tention  purposes,  and  practically  half  of  the  Ensley 
prison  also.  Assuming  then  the  entire  cost  of  Avenue 
F  prison  and  half  the  cost  of  Ensley,  a  figure  appears 
of  71.6  cents  per  head  per  day  as  the  actual  cost  for 
each  day’s  labor.  This  is  made  up  as  follows:  Sala¬ 
ries,  6.9 ;  expense,  0.2 ;  general  supplies,  3.1 ;  repairs, 
2.4;  guards,  27.8;  food,  22.2;  fuel  and  power,  3.4; 
water,  1.1 ;  clothing,  shoes,  etc.,  4.6 ;  totalling  71.6. 
The  supplies,  both  for  the  prisons  and  for  the  City’s 
use  generally  are  purchased  in  bulk  and  carload  lots  of 
feed  for  the  mules  brought  to  the  city  warehouse  and 
unloaded  right  into  the  bins  in  convenient  proximity 
to  the  mule  lot.  The  new  city  jail  at  Avenue  F  is 
light,  clean,  commodious  and  sanitary,  absolutely  fire¬ 
proof,  and  every  part  of  it  can  be  and  is  washed  down 
daily.  It  is  so  arranged  as  to  be  very  economical  in 
guarding,  heating,  cooking  and  cleaning,  and  I  can¬ 
not  see  any  economy  to  be  effected  there.  It  is  fair 
to  point  out  that  if  all  the  prisoners  handled  in  the 
last  fiscal  year  at  Avenue  F  daily  had  been  able  to 
labor,  60,189  days  work  would  have  been  had,  whereas 
the  above  cost  was  predicated  upon  44,104  days  ac- 

21 


tually  had,  there  being  certain  number  of  women  on 
hand  and  of  men  unable  to  labor  at  street  cleaning  or 
repair  work,  the  cost  of  whose  maintenance  is  nec¬ 
essarily  included  in  the  above  figures.  The  cost  of 
guarding  is  the  only  element  in  the  labor  cost  which 
appears  to  me  somewhat  excessive,  and  this  is  un¬ 
avoidable  where  the  great  extent  of  the  area  to  be 
served  requires  the  subdivision  of  men  into  such  nu¬ 
merous  squads,  a  guard  being  required  even  for  a 
single  team  laboring  with  two  or  three  convicts.  It 
is  a  question  that  may  be  properly  considered  as  to 
whether,  instead  of  letting  the  construction  of  new 
streets  by  contract,  this  work  might  not  be  under¬ 
taken  by  the  City  and  handled  with  convict  labor 
where  25  or  50  convicts  could  be  worked  at  one  place, 
with  four  to  six  guards.  This  would  greatly  reduce 
the  cost  of  guarding.  As  to  the  relative  efficiency  of 
such  labor,  compared  with  free  labor,  it  is  hard  to  offer 
an  opinion  without  definite  figures  for  comparison.  I 
am  disposed  to  think  from  my  observation  that  for  the 
class  of  work  performed,  which,  in  some  cases,  is 
disagreeable,  higher  wages  would  require  to  be  paid  to 
attract  free  labor,  and  that  the  use  of  the  convicts  at 
the  cost  above  stated  is  an  economy  to  the  City. 

In  the  distribution  of  material  for  street  repairs 
chert  is  obtained  in  large  quantities  at  60  cents  per 
cubic  yard  delivered  at  railroad  siding,  or  through  a 
flat  rate  quoted  by  the  street  railroad  company  at  80 
cents  per  cubic  yard  delivered  at  any  point  within 
the  city  limits  reached  by  the  street  car  tracks.  This 
diminishes  materially  the  amount  of  haulage,  and 
without  such  an  arrangement  the  present  work  could 
not  be  performed  by  the  existing  staff. 

The  expense  of  haulage  of  garbage  has  been  con¬ 
siderably  reduced  by  the  abolition  of  city  dumps  and 
a  source  of  great  annoyance  and  menace  to  health  has 
also  in  this  way  been  removed  by  the  substitution  of 

22 


crematories  for  the  incineration  of  the  street  refuse. 
The  one  visited  at  Ensley  appeared  to  be  working 
fairly  well,  but  not  giving  sufficient  heat  to  enable  it  to 
handle  the  large  quantities  of  tin  cans,  which  have 
to  be  separated  from  the  refuse  and  are  forming  un¬ 
sightly  and  large  collections.  Some  plans  are  under 
consideration  for  dealing  with  this  subject. 

The  removal  of  refuse  from  the  surface  closets 
is  a  serious  tax  upon  the  city,  and  is  costing  at  this 
moment  $10,000  per  annum.  Some  doubt  is  expressed 
as  to  whether  the  construction  of  sanitary  sewers  and 
connection  with  them  will  ever  overtake  this  condi¬ 
tion.  The  tendency  is  continually  to  build  in  outlying 
areas,  even  in  advance  of  the  construction  of  sewers, 
and  the  City  has  been  lenient  in  forcing  connections 
during  depressed  conditions  of  business,  on  account 
of  the  expense  to  property  owners  of  the  plumbing, 
which  it  is  necessary  to  install,  and  which  amounts  to 
quite  as  much  as  the  pro  rata  charge  for  sanitary 
sewer.  In  the  interest  of  health,  however,  as  well  as 
economy,  it  seems  desirable  that  the  construction  of 
sanitary  sev/ers  should  be  pushed  steadily  wherever 
conditions  seem  to  make  it  fair  and  reasonable  that 
this  charge  should  be  imposed  upon  the  property 
owners.  The  abolition  of  the  surface  closet  is  also  a 
necessity  incident  to  the  abolition  of  typhoid. 

In  this  connection,  whilst  not  entirely  within  the 
scope  of  my  assignment,  I  am  compelled  to  point  out 
that  the  City  has  outgrown  the  original  provision  of 
sanitary  sewers,  and  that  at  some  time  in  the  future 
considerable  expense  must  be  incurred  in  the  enlarge¬ 
ment  of  the  system.  Contemplating,  therefore,  this 
necessity,  which  may  take  the  shape  of  trunk  sewer, 
involving  perhaps  a  larger  expense  than  may  be 
deemed  entirely  proper  to  be  borne  by  abutting  prop¬ 
erty,  and  considering  also  the  necessity  which  I  have 
previously  pointed  out,  for  the  construction  of  cul- 

23 


verts  or  storm  sewers  to  handle  creek  and  gully  storm 
washes,  some  part  of  which  may,  from  the  nature  of 
the  surrounding  property,  be  assumed  by  the  City, 
it  seems  to  me  impossible  that  any  material  reduction 
can  be  made  in  the  cost  of  the  street  and  sewer  de¬ 
partment,  and  that,  on  the  contrary,  to  give  satisfac¬ 
tion  to  the  citizens,  a  larger  force  ought  to  be  em¬ 
ployed,  and  a  larger  expenditure  undertaken.  In  this 
connection  it  seems  entirely  proper  to  point  out  that 
a  sum  of  2  mills  upon  the  entire  assessed  value  of 
the  City  of  Birmingham  is  collected  by  Jefferson 
County  for  roads  and  bridges,  and  I  am  informed  that 
this  amounted  in  the  year  just  past  to  $169,874.59,  of 
which  only  $21,574.19  was  contributed  as  a  refund 
from  the  County  to  the  City.  If,  by  proper  legisla¬ 
tion,  either  in  the  direction  of  constituting  the  City 
of  Birmingham  itself  a  separate  County,  or  a  sep¬ 
arate  taxing  district  with  a  right  to  expend  within 
its  own  area  the  taxes  collected,  this  money  could  be 
retained,  it  would  be  possible  greatly  to  relieve  the  cit¬ 
izens  by  the  steady  improvement  of  the  Street  and 
Sewer  Department,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  relieve 
the  City  Treasury,  for  a  force  could  then  be  employed 
and  paid  out  of  the  tax  thus  collected  which  would 
be  adequate  to  build  all  the  new  paved  streets  which 
are  required  for  the  development  of  traffic,  and  for 
the  prevention  of  erosion,  which  work,  so  far  as 
equitable,  would  be  paid  for,  as  at  present,  by  the 
abutting  property,  and,  as  a  sub-committee,  I  respect¬ 
fully  report  to  3^ou  that  this  seems  to  me  the  proper 
action  for  our  committee  to  recommend  to  the  Gen¬ 
eral  Committee  of  One  Hundred. 


Yours  very  truly, 

JAS.  BOWRON. 


24 


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APPENDIX  IV. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  January  7th,  1915. 

Mr.  Henry  Upson  Sims,  Chairman, 

City. 

Dear  Sir; — I  am  pleased  to  hand  you  herewith 
my  report  on  the  Fire  Department,  which  I  have  in¬ 
vestigated  as  thoroughly  as  possible  within  the  short 
time  I  have  had. 

I  find  that  in  Greater  Birmingham  there  are 
twenty  fire  stations.  These  stations  are  distributed 
over  the  City  from  East  Lake  to  Wylatn  a  distance  of 
about  fifteen  miles.  East  and  West,  and  from  the 
South  Highlands  to  North  Birmingham,  a  distance 
of  about  six  miles  North  and  South.  These  stations 
will  average  about  half  a  mile  apart  in  old  Birming¬ 
ham  and  about  three  miles  apart  in  the  suburbs.  In 
all  of  these  stations,  including  the’  City  Repair  Shops, 
there  were  employed  during  1914  176  men. 

The  salaries  of  these  men  range  from  $70.00  per 
month  for  third-class  firemen  to  $230.00  per  month 
for  the  Chief.  These  salaries  seem  to  be  reasonable, 
and  I  would  not  recommend  a  cut  except  in  the  event 
of  the  City’s  failure  to  get  an  increased  revenue,  in 
which  event  I  would  recommend  a  cut  of  10  per  cent, 
in  all  salaries  from  $100.00  per  month  up. 

During  the  past  four  years  the  City  has  installed 
automobile  fire  equipment  at  a  total  cost  of  approxi¬ 
mately  $120,000.00.  This  equipment  was  installed 
mainly  during  1911  and  during  the  early  part  of  1912. 
During  the  year  1910,  before  the  installation  of  this 
new  equipment,  there  were  employed  in  the  Depart¬ 
ment  154  men  with  salaries  amounting  to  $146,511.22, 
in  1911  168  men  employed,  salaries  $162,125.98 ;  in 
1912  157  men  employed  with  salaries  of  $156,674.02 ; 


26 


in  1913,  men  employed  168,  salaries  $164,958.38 ;  in 
1914,  men  employed  174,  salaries  $172,361.38. 

During  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30th,  1910, 
there  were  1161  fires,  with  loss  of  $504,629.78,  with 
cost  of  maintenance  of  equipment,  including  feed  and 
bedding  for  horses,  $8,533.08.  From  July  1st,  1910,  to 
Sept.  30th,  1911,  there  were  1330  fires  with  a  loss  of 
$716,553.71,  with  cost  of  maintenance,  including  feed 
and  bedding  for  horses  of  $13,233.83.  During  1912 
there  were  1484  fires  with  fire  loss  of  $813,136.31,  with 
cost  of  maintenance,  including  feed  and  bedding  for 
horses,  $9,732.12.  During  1913  there  were  1721  fires 
with  loss  of  $446,997.99  with  cost  of  maintenance,  in¬ 
cluding  horses  of  $11,173.28.  During  1914  there  were 
2460  fires  with  loss  of  $1,172,891.93,  with  cost  of  main¬ 
tenance,  including  horses  of  $18,245.37.  From  1910  to 
1914  cost  of  feeding  and  bedding  horses  decreased 
from  $6,823.49  in  1910  to  $3,995.43  in  1914.  Mainten¬ 
ance  and  repairs  to  automobile  equipment  increased 
from  $3,913.17  in  1912  to  $9,728.92  during  1914. 

The  City  maintains  its  own  repair  shop,  in  which 
the  equipment  cost  $2,500.00  with  a  monthly  pay  roll 
of  $430.00.  I  must  confess  that  when  the  report  was 
published  in  1911  that  Birmingham  was  the  Pioneer 
City  to  adopt  automobile  fire  apparatus  at  a  cost  of 
more  than  $100,000.00  I  could  not  help  but  feel  that  it 
was  somewhat  a  reckless  expenditure,  considering  the 
fact  that  the  City  was  already  very  well  equipped  with 
horse-driven  equipment,  and  also  considering  the  fact 
that  the  City  at  that  time  was  expending  $1,000.00 
per  day  beyond  its  income,  but  the  officials  with 
whom  I  have  talked  assure  me  that  it  has  proven  a 
good  investment  and  the  reports  show  a  considerable 
decrease  in  the  cost  per  fire  responded  to  since  the  in¬ 
stallation  of  this  new  equipment.  I  can  not,  however, 
help  but  have  some  apprehension  on  account  of  the 


27 


rapid  increase  in  cost  of  maintenance  of  the  automo¬ 
bile  fire  apparatus. 

As  stated  above  I  can  see  no  way  of  reducing  the 
cost  in  this  Department  except  as  above  stated,  which 
would  be  insignificant  when  compared  to  the  City’s 
needs.  The  City  is  employing  in  its  suburban  sta¬ 
tions  about  double  the  number  of  men  that  the  towns 
employed  prior  to  annexation,  but  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  during  the  past  three  years  there  has  been  an  in¬ 
crease  of  about  40  per  cent,  in  fire  insurance  rates,  this 
force  could  hardly  be  decreased  without  bringing  even 
additional  cost  for  insurance  on  the  public. 

Yours  very  truly, 

W.  E.  PERRYMAN. 

APPENDIX  V. 

Birmingham,  January  6,  1915. 

Mr.  Henry  Upson  Sims,  Chairman, 

Birmingham,  Ala. 

Dear  Sir: — As  requested  by  you,  I  have  investi¬ 
gated  the  Police  Department  of  the  City  of  Birming¬ 
ham  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  if  any  reduction 
could  be  made  in  the  expense  of  operating  said  De¬ 
partment. 

I  have  investigated  and  carefully  looked  over  the 
pay  roll  and  find  that  the  officers  and  patrolmen  of  the 
Police  Department  are  not  over-paid,  and  I  do  not 
recommend  any  reduction  in  their  salaries.  The  Chief 
of  Police  receives  $230.00  per  month.  The  Captains 
of  the  police  force  receive  $100.00  per  month,  and  the 
Sergeants  receive  $90.00  each.  The  Detectives  re¬ 
ceive  about  $90.00  and  the  Patrolmen  $80.00  per 
month.  I  regard  these  salaries  as  reasonable  and  fair 
considering  the  present  financial  condition  of  the 
country. 


28 


The  number  of  patrolmen  and  detectives  in  the 
service  of  the  City  of  Birmingham  is  as  follows : 


Entire  Police  and  Detective  Departments _ 171  Men 

Working  strength,  Detectives,  Plain  Clothes 

Men  and  Patrolmen _ 143  Men 


Working  strength  of  Uniformed  Patrolmen_117  Men 
Uniformed  Patrolmen  divided  as  follows : 


7:00  AM  to  3:00  PM  (Day  Shift)  _ 21  Men 

10:30  AM  to  6:30  PM  (Traffic  Squad) _  6  Men 

11:00  PM  to  7:00  AM  (Morning  Shift)  __  50  Men 

3 :00  PM  to  11 :00  PM  (Evening  Shift) _ 40  Men 


Area  of  territory  patrolled _ 50.8  Miles  (Sq.  Miles.) 

It  appears  from  the  above  that  the  number  of  po¬ 
licemen  is  very  small  compared  to  the  vast  area  they 
are  expected  to  cover.  I  could  not  recommend  a  sin¬ 
gle  reduction,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  City  could 
afford  it,  the  Police  Department  should  be  consider¬ 
ably  increased. 

The  following  is  a  table  showing  the  cost  of  the 
Police  Department  of  Birmxingham  as  compared  with 
that  of  other  cities  of  approximately  the  same  popula¬ 
tion  : 


Police  Dept. 
Payments 

Columbus  Ohio _ $238,542 

Toledo,  Ohio _ 211,944 

Oakland,  Cal.  _  270,181 

Atlanta,  Ga.  _  285,591 

Birmingham,  Ala _  159,863 

'Worcester,  Mass. _  226,518 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. _  204,139 

New  Haven,  Conn. _  249,682 

Memphis,  Tenn. _  220,168 


Per 

Area 

July  1st,  1913 

Capita 

Acres 

Population 

$1.20 

14,307 

199,417 

1.17 

18,25'6 

180,412 

1.54 

38.501 

175,202 

1.64 

16,847 

173,713 

1.01 

30,912 

158,200 

1.46 

24,634 

154.941 

1.39 

11,583 

146,480 

1.76 

14,340 

141.915 

1.57 

12,719 

^  140,351 

29 


It  appears  from  the  above  table  that  the  appro¬ 
priation  made  in  the  City  of  Birmingham  for  the 
Police  Department  is  very  much  below  that  of  other 
leading  cities.  Take  the  City  of  Atlanta  for  instance: 
The  cost  per  capita  for  the  Police  Department  is  1.64 
and  the  number  of  acres  in  Atlanta  is  16,847.  The 
cost  in  Birmingham  per  capita  is  1.01,  while  the  area 
in  acres  is  30,912.  You  can  see  from  this  that  a  patrol¬ 
man  in  Birmingham  is  expected  to  do  double  the 
work  of  one  in  Atlanta  at  about  60  per  cent,  less  cost. 

Arrests 

The  total  number  of  arrests  made  in  the  City  of 
Birmingham  for  the  year  ending  September  30th, 
1914,  was  the  enormous  total  of  21,667.  Of  this  grand 
total,  there  was  delivered  to  the  Sheriff  of  Jefferson 
County,  Federal  authorities.  Juvenile  Court,  etc.,  2603 
cases.  For  making  these  arrests,  the  City  of  Birming¬ 
ham  received  absolutely  nothing,  although  the  City 
furnished  transportation  and  paid  all  the  expense  in 
connection  with  the  arrests.  It  seems  to  me  that  a  law 
should  be  passed  by  the  Legislature  that  will  reim¬ 
burse  the  City  for  the  arrests  made  for  the  benefit  of 
the  County. 

In  Conclusion — After  carefully  going  over  the 
records  of  the  Police  Department,  it  appears  to  me 
that  this  Department  is  economically  and  carefully 
managed.  The  amount  of  work  done  indicates  that 
the  Department  is  efficient  and  the  only  criticism  I 
can  offer  is  that  the  force  is  too  small  for  the  City  of 
Birmingham. 

Very  truly  yours, 

W.  H.  KETTIG. 


30 


APPENDIX  VI. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  Jan.  6th,  1915. 

Mr.  H.  U.  Sims,  Chairman  Sub  Committee  on  Munici¬ 
pal  Investigation : 

Dear  Sir : — I  have  investigated  the  following  De¬ 
partments  of  the  City  Government : 

Commissioners  Department. 

Comptrollers  Department. 

Engineering  Department. 

Legal  Department. 

Purchasing  Department. 

And  in  doing  so,  matters  in  other  Departments 
have  been  brought  to  my  attention. 

The  greater  expense  of  the  Commissioners’  Office 
is  fixed  by  law  and  the  lesser  expense,  while  liberal, 
is  scarcely  above  the  requirements  and  dignity  of  the 
office. 

The  Comptroller’s  Department  is  a  union  of  sev¬ 
eral  offices  or  departments,  as  run  under  aldermanic 
government,  and  is  run  at  less  expense.  All  receipts 
and  disbursements  are  thoroughly  in  check.  The  sys¬ 
tem  is  simple  and  broad  and  complete,  and  I  am  sat¬ 
isfied  that  the  accountings  of  the  City  are  in  capable 
and  safe  hands.  The  force  seems  none  too  large,  and 
the  expense  of  the  Department  liberal. 

The  Legal  Department  is  assigned  to  three  attor¬ 
neys  :  The  City  Attorney,  who  looks  after  the  legal 
affairs  of  the  City  in  a  general  way,  such  as  prepara¬ 
tion  of  ordinances,  damage  suits,  etc. ;  the  Assessment 
Attorney,  to  whom  is  assigned  the  work  of  prosecu¬ 
tion  and  defense  for  the  City  in  the  matter  of  assess¬ 
ments  ;  and  the  Appeal  Attorney,  who  looks  after  all 
cases  appealed  from  the  Recorder’s  Courts. 

I  think  the  conduct  and  expense  of  this  Depart¬ 
ment  is  well  within  the  bounds  of  reason. 

31 


The  Engineering  Department  is  the  backbone  of 
the  City,  making  or  marring,  and  mistakes  are  costly. 
From  twelve  to  fifteen  men  in  this  Department  have 
recently  been  dropped  and  the  Department  at  present 
seems  to  be  on  a  safe  and  sane  basis. 

The  City  has  built  at  Avenue  F  and  Fourth  Street 
a  warehouse,  grain  elevator,  sand  bins,  coal  bins  and 
lime  house.  All  supplies  are  obtained  by  requisition 
from  heads  of  departments,  countersigned  by.  the 
Comptroller  and  duly  entered.  The  Purchasing  De¬ 
partment  is  charged  with  all  purchases,  credited  with 
requisitions  and  makes  a  stock  report  monthly.  It  is 
claimed  that  this  Department  saved  the  City  in  1914 
$25000.00  over  1913. 

The  figures  submitted  show  that  the  following 
departments  are  more  or  less  self-sustaining: 

Building  Inspection. 

Plumbing  Inspection. 

Electric  Inspection. 

Meat  and  Milk  Inspection. 

Engineering  Department  (nearly  so). 

Excavation  Department. 

Pounds  (nearly  so). 

While  salaries  and  expenses  in  all  departments 
are  liberal  and  by  many  considered  high  and  exces¬ 
sive,  I  am  convinced  that  the  City  is  being  managed 
with  efficienc}^  and  that  the  Commissioners  are  gath¬ 
ering  records,  instituting  methods  and  doing  things 
for  the  good  of  the  City. 

Respectfully, 

R.  H.  WAEKER, 


32 


CITY  OF  BIRMINGHAM,  ALA. 
EMPLOYES. 

DECEMBER,  1914. 

Per 

Month 

3  Commissioners,  each  _ $560.00 

1  City  Clerk _ 166.66 

1  Stenographer  _ 100.00 

1  Stenographer  _  75.00 

1  Stenographer  _  50.00 

1  Purchasing  Agent _ 150.00 

1  Assistant  _  30.00 

1  Warehouseman  _  90.00 

1  Laborer  (warehouse),  per  day _  1.25 

Comptroller’s  Department. 

1  Comptroller  _  400.00 

1  Chief  Clerk  and  General  Bookkeeper _ 190.00 

1  Stenographer  _  75.00 

Public  Impt.  Department — 

1  Clerk  _ 130.00 

1  Clerk _ 100.00 

2  Clerks,  each  _  75.00 

Auditing  Department — 

1  Voucher  Clerk  _ 100.00 

1  Record  Clerk  _  85.00 

Cashier  and  Tax  Department — 

1  Cashier  - 110.00 

1  Tax  Clerk  _ 125.00 

1  Tax  Clerk  _  75.00 

License  Department. 

1  Collector  _  290.00 

1  Assistant  _  90.00 

1  Stenographer  _  70.00 

Building  Inspector. 

1  Building  Inspector  _ 166.66 

4  Building  Inspectors,  each -  90.00 


33 


1  Clerk  _  90.00 

Electrical  Inspector. 

1  Electrical  Inspector  _ 145.00 

1  Electrical  Inspector  _ 102.50 

11  Electrical  Inspector  _  92.50 

Weights  and  Measures 

1  Inspector  _ 100.00 

City  Attorney. 

1  City  Attorney _  300.00 

1  Assistant  _  250.00 

4  Assistant  _ 100.00 

1  Stenographer  _  75.00 

1  Claim  Agent _  85.00 

2  Special  Officers,  each _  80.00 

Recorder’s  Court  (Birmingham). 

1  Recorder _ _ 125.00 

1  Clerk  _ 100.00 

1  Bailiff _ (Carried  on  Police  Roll) 

Recorder’s  Court  (Ensley). 

1  Recorder _ 110.00 

1  Clerk  _  80.00 

City  Planning. 

Warren  H.  Manning _  83.33 

1  Smoke  Inspector _ ' _ 166.66 

ft 

2  Board  Members,  per  member _  5.00 

Plumbing  Inspector 

1  Inspector  - 166.66 

4  Inspectors,  each _ 110.00 

1  Clerk  _  75.00 

Health  and  Sanitary 

1  Health  Officer _ _ _ 300.00 

1  Chief  Inspector  _  350.00 

1  Registrar  _  75.00 

1  Clerk  _  70.00 

12  Inspectors,  each _  80.00 

1  Soda  Fountain  Inspector _ 100.00 


34 


1  City  Physician  - 100.00 

1  Pest  House  Physician  _  50.00 

1  Pest  House  Wagon  Driver  (per  day) _  1.25 

Meat  and  Milk  Inspection. 

1  Meat  and  Milk  Inspector _ 166.66 

2  Meat  and  Milk  Inspectors,  each _  95.00 

3  Meat  and  Milk  Inspectors,  each _  80.00 

Pounds. 

1  Keeper  (Birmingham)  _  75.00 

1  Assistant  (Birmingham)  _  60.00 

1  Assistant  (Birmingham)  _  10.00 

1  Keeper  (Ensley)  _  70.00 

1  Assistant  (Ensley)  _  20.00 

1  Keeper  (North  Birmingham) _  50.00 

d  Keeper  (Woodlawn)  _  65.00 

Street  Lighting. 

1  Arc  Inspector  (B’ham  R.,  L.  &  P.  Co.  pay  half) _ 100.00 

City  Engineer. 

1  City  Engineer _ 416.67 

1  Assistant,  (Parks  and  Playgrounds) _  200.00 

1  Assistant  _ 150.00 

1  Chief  Clerk  _ 125.00 

1  Stenographer  _ 100.00 

5  Engineers,  each  _ 100.00 

1  Engineer  _ 1 _  90.00 

3  Engineers,  each _  80.00 

1  Inspector  _  75.00 

3  Inspectors,  each _ 70.00 

2  Inspectors,  each _ 60.00 

2  Rodmen,  each _ 45.00 

10  Rodmen,  each _  40.00 

North  Birmingham  "Water  Works  and  Electric  Plant. 

1  Supt  (City  Electrician)  _  25.00 

1  Inspector  _  85.00 

1  Clerk  _  85.00 

1  Lineman  _  80.00 


35 


1  Day  Engineer _  85.00 

1  Night  Engineer  _  80.00 

Excavation  Department. 

1  Superintendent  _ 125.00 

2  Foremen,  each  _  85.00 

1  Roller  Foreman _  75.00 

1  Clerk,  per  week _  12.50 

Welfare  Department. 

1  Generalissimo  _  97.50 

1  Policewoman  (Shown  on  Police  roll) _  60.00 

North  Side  Prison — 

1  Warden  _  90.00 

2  Wardens,  each  _  80.00 

1  Cook  _  22.50 

Avenue  F  Prison — 

1  Warden  _  90.00 

2  Assistants  (per  day)  _  2.50 

Ensley  Prison — 

Taken  care  of  by  Clerk  of  Court. 

Parks. 

1  Superintendent  _  95.00 

1  Keeper  _  60.00 

3  Keepers,  each _  50.00 

1  Eaborer  (per  day) _  2.50 

3  Laborers  (per  day) _  1.50 

$ 

1  Laborer  (per  day) _  1.35 

1  Laborer  (per  day) _  .50 

17  Laborers  (per  day) _  1.25 

Playgrounds. 

1  Superintendent  _ 166.66 

18  Assistants,  each _  25.00 

2  Assistants,  each  _  12.50 

($200.00  on  Engineers’  Pay  Roll  charged  to  Parks  and  Play 

Grounds.) 

City  Hall  Janitors. 

at  Woodlawn _ . _  22.50 

36 


1  at  Pratt  City -  10.00 

1  Head  Janitor,  City  Hall _  50.00 

1  Elevator  Boy  (per  day) _  1.75 

4  Hall  Boys  (per  day) _  1.00 

Police  Department. 

1  Chief  -  230.00 

1  Assistant  Chief  _ 115.00 

5  Captains,  each  _ 100.00 

9  Sergeants,  each  _  90.00 

1  Desk  Sergeant  _  90.00 

1  Desk  Sergeant  _  80.00 

4  Desk  Sergeants,  each _  75.00 

4  Chauffeurs,  each  _  60.00 

3  Patrol  Drivers,  each _  60.00 

1  Police  Woman — Welfare  Department. 

1  Probation  Ofticer  _  50.00 

1  Probation  Officer  (woman)  _  40.00 

1  Detective  _ 100.00 

12  Detectives,  each _  90.00 

2  Court  Officers,  each _  80.00 

13  Plain-clothes  men,  each _  80.00 

120  Patrolmen,  each _  80.00 

Janitor  (Woodlawn) _  22.50 

Fire  Department. 

1  Chief  _  230.00 

1  Assistant  Chief _ 150.00 

1  Assistant  _ 125.00 

1  Secretar}^  _ 100.00 

1  Fire  Inspector  _ 100.00 

1  Supt.  Fire  Alarm _  100.00 

1  Hostler  _  50.00 

1  Watchman  _  15.00 

1  Carpenter  _  10.00 

1  Plydrant  Inspector  _  80.00 

1  Blacksmith  _  90.00 

1  Helper  _  35.00 


37 


1  Mechanic  ($20.00  charged  to  auto  repair  shop) _  80.00 

1  Mechanic  ($83.33  charged  to  auto  repair  shop) _  16.67 

1  Mechanic  ($20.00  charged  to  auto  repair  shop) _  80.00 

1  Mechanic  (Charged  to  auto  repair  shop) _ 150.00 

1  Mechanic  (Charged  to  auto  repair  shop) _  60.00 

23  Captains,  each _ 100.00 

3  Engineers,  each  _ 100.00 

108  Firemen,  each _  80.00 

13  Firemen,  each  _  75.00 

13  Firemen,  each _  70.00 

Street  Commissioner. 

1  Commissioner  _  230.00 

a  Clerk  _ 100.00 

1  Clerk  _  75. uO 

Garbage. 

1  Foreman  _ 115.00 

1  Foreman  _ 100.00 

1  Foreman  _  75.00 

Foremen,  each  _  76.U0 

1  Foreman  (per  day)  _  2.80 

7  Foremen  (per  day) _ _ _  2.50 

1  Foreman  (per  day) _  2.25 

1  Laborer  (per  day) _  2.00 

4  Laborers  (per  day) _  1.50 

1  Laborer  (per  day) _  1.35 

76  Laborers  (per  day) _  1.25 

Unpaved  Street  Repairs — 

3  Foremen,  each  _  75.00 

2  Foremen  (per  day) _  3.00 

)4  Foremen  (per  day) _  2.50 

4  Foremen  (per  day) _  2.25 

1  Foreman  (per  day) _  2.00 

3  Laborers  (per  day) _  1.50 

36  Laborers  (per  day)  _  1.25 

,2  Laborers  (per  day) _  1.00 


38 


Paved  Street  Repairs — 

1  Foreman  -  75.00 

1  Laborer  (per  day)  _  1.50 

2  Laborers  (per  day) _  1.40 

3  Laborers  (per  day)  _  1.25 

Plumbers’  Ditches — 

1  Laborer  (per  day) -  2.25 

2  Laborers  (per  day) _  1.50 

Street  Sprinkling. 

1  Laborer  (per  day) _  1.35 

1  Laborer  (per  day) _  1.25 

Street  Cleaning. 

2  Foremen  (per  day) _  2.50 

1  Foreman  (per  day)  _  2.00 

14  Foremen  (per  day) _  1.25 

Bridges. 

1  Foreman  _  75.00 

4  Laborers  (per  day) _  1.25 

Sewers. 

1  Foreman  (per  day) _  3.25 

1  Foreman  (per  day)  _  3.00 

2  Laborers  (per  day) _  1.50  ' 

3  Laborers  (per  day) _  1.25 

Crematory  No.  1. 

3  Laborers  (per  day) _  1.50 

2  Laborers  (per  day)  _  1.25 

Crematory  No.  2. 

2  Laborers  (per  day)  _  1.35 

Crematory  No.  3. 

1  Laborer  (per  day) _  1.50 

Crematory  No.  4. 

1  Laborer  (per  day) _  1.25 

Stables 

1  Foreman  (per  day) _  3.00 

1  Foreman  (per  day) _  2.25 


39 


1  Laborer  (per  day)  _  1.50 

3  Laborers  (per  day) _  1.25 

Blacksmith  and  Repair  Shop. 

1  Foreman  _ 116.00 

2  Blacksmiths  (per  day)  _  3.50 

2  Blacksmiths  (per  day) _  3.00 

1  Laborer  (per  day)  _  2.00 

2  Laborers  (per  day) _  1.50 


APPENDIX  VII. 

Birmingham,  Ala.,  January  8,  1915. 

Mr.  H.  U.  Sims,  Chairman, 

City. 

Dear  Sir: — I  have  made  such  examination  of  the 
Departments  assigned  to  me,  namely  the  Recreation 
and  Play  Ground  Departments,  Parks,  Birmingham 
Public  Library,  and  the  Charity  Departments  as  the 
time  at  my  disposal  would  permit,  and  beg  leave  to  re¬ 
port  as  follows : 

Recreation  and  Playground  Department. 

I  attach  hereto  a  copy  of  the  ordinance.  Marked 
Recreation  Exhibit  creating  this  department  of 

the  City  of  Birmingham.  The  reading  of  this  ordnance 
will  show  that  the  play  grounds  are  only  a  part  "of  the 
whole  recreation  scheme.  In  addition  to  the  various 
playground  centers  located  in  different  parts  of  Greater 
Birmingham  there  have  been  established  evening  recrea¬ 
tion  centers,  which  are  conducted  under  the  supervision 
of  Mr.  Z.  Nespor,  Superintendent  of  Recreation  De¬ 
partment.  The  Armory  in  the  City  Hall  is  employed 
for  these  gatherings,  and  has  been  converted  into  a 
gymnasium.  It  is  expected  to  open  a  night  center  of  this 
character  at  Pratt  City  in  the  near  future  at  which  sev- 

40 


eral  hundred  young  men  may  be  cared  for  during  the 
winter  months. 

It  is  also  expected  by  this  Department  to  use  the 
public  school  buildings  and  halls  for  recreation  and 
social  night  work  instead  of  keeping  them  locked  up 
and  dark  the  greater  part  of  the  time.  I  think  this  is 
the  proper  move  and  that  the  City  Commissioners 
have  acted  wisely  in  giving  their  consent  to  this  use 
being  made  of  the  public  buildings.  It  is  expected  that 
this  Department  will  in  the  coming  summer  be  able  to 
install  public  baths  which  will  also  be  of  great  benefit 
to  the  community  at  large. 

All  of  the  equipment  such  as  is  required  in  the 
play  grounds,  both  permanent  and  perishable  play 
grounds  apparatus,  has  been  furnished  by  the  several 
play  ground  associations  at  no  cost  to  the  City.  I  am 
advised  that  this  apparatus  was  made  in  Birmingham 
under  the  direction  of  the  Department  of  Recreation, 
and  that  by  doing  so  a  saving  of  50  per  cent,  to  60  per 
cent,  in  the  cost  of  the  apparatus  was  made. 

The  Recreation  Department  of  Birmingham  is  new  and 
it  is  likewise  a  new  venture  in  the  south,  Birmingham 
having  taken  the  lead  in  this  movement  in  the  south. 
The  reports  I  have  received  show  that  $1,556.48  has 
been  raised  and  turned  over  to  this  Department  by  the 
various  communities,  which  amount,  as  above  stated, 
has  been  expended  on  permanent  and  perishable  ap¬ 
paratus,  which  apparatus  having  been  manufactured 
here  at  a  saving  of  50  per  cent,  to  60  per  cent.,  probably 
represents  a  value  of  approximately  $3,000.00.  This 
does  not  includt  $1,000.00  to  $1,500.00  spent  by  the 
play  ground  associations  for  perishable  apparatus,  such 
as  base-balls,  basket-balls,  bats,  nets.,  etc. 

I  attach  hereto  a  statement,  marked  Recreation 
Exhibit  ‘‘B,”  showing  the  cost  of  the  Play  Ground  Asso¬ 
ciation  of  Birmingham  as  compared  with  other  cities. 

41 


This  report  reveals  the  fact  that  the  cost  per  child  per 
day  is  approximately  one  (1)  cent.  I  attach  also  a  re¬ 
port,  marked  Recreation  Exhibit  “C,”  showing  an  in¬ 
ventory  of  the  permanent  apparatus  erected  at  the  ex¬ 
pense  of  the  various  associations,  and  without  cost  to 
the  City,  on  the  play  ground  centers  enumerated.  I  at¬ 
tach  also  a  report,  marked  Recreation  Exhibit  “D,” 
showing  the  cost  of  this  Department  in  detail  by  months, 
exclusive  of  the  salary  of  the  Superintendent.  You  will 
see  that  the  salary  paid  supervisors  is  greatly  reduced 
in  the  winter  months  on  account  of  non-use  of  the  play 
grounds  in  bad  weather.  For  example,  the  salaries  for 
the  months  of  June,  July  and  August,  1914,  ranged  from 
$40.00  to  $75.00,  while  the  average  salaries  for  the 
months  of  September,  October  and  November  were 
$25.00.  It  is  estimated  that  the  cost  for  January  for  all 
play  ground  work,  including  night  recreation  work,  will 
not  exceed  the  sum  of  $525.00. 

I  regard  this  as  a  very  important  Department  in  our 
City  life,  and  one  that  should  be  sustained  and  con¬ 
tinued. 

The  actual  attendance  upon'  these  play  grounds 
and  recreation  centers  from  July  1st,  1913,  to  January 
31st,  1914  (seven  months),  was  94,082.  The  Superin¬ 
tendent  of  this  Department,  Mr.  Z.  Nespor,  is  paid 
$166.66  per  month.  I  consider  him  a  most  efficient,  con¬ 
scientious  and  progressive  official,  and  that  the  City  is 
receiving  full  value  for  the  money  paid  him  for  his 
services. 

I  do  not  see  any  opportunity  to  make  a  material 
saving  in  this  Department  unless  it  should  be  found  ad¬ 
visable  to  recommend  that  the  salaries  of  the  super¬ 
visors,  of  which  there  are  eighteen  to  twenty,  be  stopped 
for  the  winter  months  of  January  and  February.  This 
will  effect  a  total  saving  to  the  City,  if  done,  of  about 
$1,000.00.  If  they  are  dropped  for  these  two  months, 

42 


they  should  in  my  opinion  be  reinstated  by  fhe  first  of 
March,  1915. 

Parks. 

As  is  well  known  the  City  of  Birmingham  has  a 
large  amount  of  money  invested  in  both  improved  and 
unimproved  parks,  principally  unimproved  parks.  The 
total  value  as  shown  by  statement  marked  Parks  Ex¬ 
hibit  “A,”  which  I  attach  hereto,  of  park  property  on 
October  1st,  1913,  was  $1,124,534,  covering  eighteen 
parks.  The  additions  to  park  property  from  October 
1st,  1913,  to  October  1st,  1914,  amounted  to  only 
$1,200.00,  making  a  total  value  of  $1,125,734  for  park 
property  on  October  1st,  1914. 

I  attach  also  a  statement,  marked  Parks  Exhibit 
“B,”  showing  details  of  park  maintenance  expense  for 
the  fiscal  year  1913-1914,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to 
$25,220.04  expended  for  maintenance,  to  whic^i  sum 
may  be  added  $64.00,  representing  small  expenditures 
for  equipment,  making  the  total  park  maintenance  for 
the  period  mentioned  $25,284.04.  The  largest  item  of 
this  expense  is  for  salaries  paid  to  the  superintendent, 
keepers  and  laborers ;  the  next  largest  item  is  for  street 
improvement,  representing  assessments  against  park 
property  on  account  of  improving  the  streets  through  or 
alongside  of  the  parks.  Park  expenses  for  salaries  for 
the  period  mentioned,  amounted  to  $9,367.67.  I  attach 
to  this  report  a  salary  list,  marked  Parks  Exhibit  ‘‘C,” 
showing  how  this  amount  was  divided.  The  Superin¬ 
tendent  of  the  parks  receives  a  salary  of  $95.00  per 
month,  which  is  the  only  salary  of  consequence  paid. 
The  keepers  receive  a  salary  of  $50.00  to  $60.00,  and  la¬ 
borers  are  paid  wages  ranging  from  50c  to  $2  per  day. 

In  view  of  the  large  investment  the  City  has 
in  park  property  and  the  fact  that  Birmingham  is  very 
much  behind  in  the  matter  of  park  improvement  and 
development,  and  the  crying  need  for  further  expendi- 

43 


tiires  along  the  line  of  affording  the  City  additional  and 
better  facilities  for  its  inhabitants  in  this  respect,  I  do 
not  believe  it  would  be  wise  to  curtail  expenditures  on 
parks.  The  amount  expended  is  exceedingly  small  when 
we  take  into  consideration  the  value  of  the  property  and 
the  large  number  of  park  centers  spread  over  a  very 
large  area,  which  require  a  certain  amount  of  attention, 
and  which  should  in  fact  receive  considerably  more 
attention  than  the  appropriation  now  available  will  ad¬ 
mit  of. 

Public  Library. 

This  Department  is  in  my  opinion  an  essential  and 
not  a  luxury  as  looked  upon  by  some.  I  think  it  would 
be  a  calamity  to  cut  off  appropriations  for  the  Bir¬ 
mingham  Public  Library  or  to  materially  reduce  the 
same.  I  am  opposed  to  any  reduction,  in  fact,  and  be¬ 
lieve  that  the  attached  statements  which  show  in  detail 
the  amount  of  money  expended  and  how  it  was  expend¬ 
ed,  will  demonstrate  that  for  the  service  rendered  the 
community,  the  amount  of  cost  is  exceedingly  small. 

I  attach  a  statement  marked  Library  Exhibit  “A,” 
showing  that  the  Library  Board  paid  from  the  City’s 
funds  during  the  year  ending  September  30th,  1914, 
$12,000.02. 

Library  Exhibit  “B”  shows  a  list  of  employees  in 
this  Department,  including  Mr.  C.  H.  Milam,  Direc¬ 
tor,  and  his  assistants,  located  in  the  central  library, 
and  in  the  various  outlying  libraries.  This  statement 
shows  the  total  pay  roll  for  the  month  of  December, 
1914,  was  $954.83.  I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  every  employee  in  this  Department,  from  Mr. 
Milam  down,  has  had  training  in  some  library  school, 
and  I  am  advised  that  all  of  the  assistants  are  thorough¬ 
ly  competent  and  are  rendering  satisfactory  service. 
I  think  the  Library  Board  and  the  City  at  large  are  ex¬ 
tremely  fortunate  in  having  secured  the  services  of  Mr. 

14 


Milam,  who  has  during  the  comparatively  short  time 
he  has  been  in  charge,  greatly  increased  the  efficeincy  of 
the  Department  and  the  organization,  and  likewise  public 
interest  in  the  library  work. 

I  also  attach  Library  Exhibit  “C,”  which  shows 
a  great  increase  in  the  number  of  books  issued,  books 
cataloged,  books  added,  etc.,  the  comparison  being ’for 
the  months  of  November,  1913,  and  November,  1914. 
The  percentage  of  increase  in  the  activity  of  the  Library 
with  all  of  its  branches  is  from  two  to  three  times  the 
percentage  of  increase  in  cost  to  the  City.  For  ex¬ 
ample,  the  increase  during  the  above  period  in  books 
added  was  207  per  cent.,  the  increase  in  books  cataloged 
was  308  per  cent.,  while  the  increase  in  expenditures 
from  the  City’s  funds  was  106  per  cent.  This  Exhibit 
“C”  also  shows  comparative  figures  covering  the  various 
items  of  work  performed  by  the  Library  for  the  year  pe¬ 
riod  ending  September  30th,  1913,  as  compared  with  the 
year  period  ending  September  30th,  1914.  The  increase 
in  appropriations  by  the  City  for  this  period  was  56.3  per 
cent.,  while  the  increases  in  the  various  other  items  of 
the  library  work  range  from  about  40  per  cent,  to 
246  per  cent. 

I  also  attach  Library  Exhibit  “D,”  showing  in  gen¬ 
eral  terms  the  character  of  books  purchased,  the  train¬ 
ing  required  of  those  accepting  service  with  the  Library, 
etc.  The  statement  shows  that  only  one  person,  namely, 
a  stenographer,  is  employed  in  the  Library  who  has  not 
had  library  school  training  or  library  experience;  this 
exhibit  also  gives  interesting  information  with  refer¬ 
ence  to  how  the  work  is  carried  on  from  day  to  day. 

Library  Exhibit  “E,”  also  attached,  will  show  you 
the  annual  per  capita  cost  of  the  public  libraries  in 
eleven  cities,  five  next  larger  and  five  next  smaller  than 
Birmingham.  The  per  capita  cost  of  Birmnigham’s 
Public  Library  is  8  cents,  being  the  lowest  of  the  eleven 

45 


cities  mentioned.  The  cost  per  capita  in  Atlanta  is  12 
cents,  and  in  Memphis  the  cost  per  capita  is  13  cents. 
The  cost  per  capita  in  the  other  cities  in  the  table 
ranges  from  10  cents  to  48  cents. 

I  recommend  that  no  effort  be  made  to  curtail  ex¬ 
penditures  in  the  Public  Library  Department,  as  I  be¬ 
lieve  the  work  of  the  present  force,  on  account  of  the 
great  increase  in  the  number  of  books  handled  and  in 
the  attendance  during  the  last  twelve  months  is  of  such 
a  nature  that  the  compensation  now  received  is  none 
too  great.  I  am  also  of  the  opinion  that  in  making  up 
the  budget  for  1915,  and  for  future  years,  a  larger  ap¬ 
propriation  than  has  been  provided  in  the  past  should  be 
made  available  for  the  Library  Board. 

Charities. 

Attached  to  this  report,  marked  Charities  Exhibit 
“A,”  you  will  find  a  letter  from  Commissioner  Ward, 
advising  that  the  amount  appropriated  for  direct  relief 
from  City  funds  during  1914  was  $693.17.  He  states 
that  this  amount  was  largely  applied  for  the  purchase 
of  railroad  tickets  to  get  destitutes  out  of  the  City.  I 
am  of  the  opinion  that  no  direct  relief  should  be  afford¬ 
ed  at  the  City  Hall,  and  that  all  charity  of  this  character 
should  be  administered  by  the  Associated  Charities,  and 
that  whatever  money  the  City  may  feel  disposed  to  ap¬ 
ply  in  the  direction  of  direct  relief  should  be  appro¬ 
priated  to  the  Associated  Charities,  handled  through 
that  channel  and  all  applicants  for  relief  of  this  nature 
should  be  referred  to  the  Associated  Charities  for  atten¬ 
tion.  This  will  result  in  an  investigation  which  will 
result  in  applicants  for  transportation  getting  transpor¬ 
tation  to  points  where  they  may  be  cared  for,  and  will 
eliminate  the  imposter  who  engages  in  the  practice  of 
moving  from  City  to  City  with  the  expectation  of  re¬ 
ceiving  transportation  to  the  next  City  beyond,  making 


46 


no  effort  to  secure  employment  or  to  put  himself  on  a 
self-supporting  basis. 

With  reference  to  the  various  institutions  to  which 
appropriations  are  annually  made,  amounting  in  the  ag¬ 
gregate  in  1914  to  over  $20,000.00,  and  as  enumerated 
in  Mr.  Ward’s  letter,  I  am  strongly  of  the  opinion  that 
the  City  should  make  up  its  budget  for  charity  appro¬ 
priations  for  each  year,  and  that  these  appropriations 
should  not  be  made  direct  to  the  charity  institutions  them¬ 
selves,  but  that  the  fund  should  be  turned  over  to  the 
Board  of  Welfare,  of  which  Mr.  J.  D.  Moore  is  Chair¬ 
man,  and  that  the  appropriations  should  be  made  by 
that  board,  based  on  its  knowledge  of  the  wants  of  each 
institution  and  the  service  it  is  rendering  the  community. 

In  regard  to  the  Welfare  Department  of  the  City 
I  think  this  should  be  abolished.  Mr.  Ward’s  letter 
above  referred  to,  marked  Charities  Exhibit  “A,”  states 
that  this  department  was  created  to  handle  female  de¬ 
linquents.  I  think  it  was  created  for  that  purpose,  but 
that  since  its  creation  it  has  greatly  broadened  its 
scope  of  activities  and  that  a  great  deal  of  over-lapping 
and  duplicating  of  work  that  should  be  handled  by  other 
institutions  which  receive  City  aid  and  are  supported  by 
the  community  at  large,  is  done  by  this  department. 

My  recommendation  is  that  it  is  properly  within 
the  function  of  the  Juvenile  Court  to  take  up  the  work 
of  this  Welfare  Department,  which  may  not  ad¬ 
vantageously  be  handled  by  other  charity  institutions, 
and  that  to  enable  this  Court  to  properly  administer 
the  additional  cases  coming  under  its  jurisdiction,  a 
female  officer,  properly  trained,  should  be  attached  to 
the  Court. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  certain  of  the  appropria¬ 
tions  made  to  charity  institutions  by  the  City  should  be 
discontinued,  but  am  opposed  to  any  reduction  in  the 
aggregate  appropriation  for  charity,  and  think  the  Board 

47 


of  Welfare  previously  referred  to,  headed  by  Mr.  J. 

D.  Moore,  should  be  the  judge  of  what  appropriations 
should  be  discontinued  and  what  should  be  allowed,  and 
how  they  should  be  distributed  among  the  various  insti¬ 
tutions. 

I  am  attaching  also  to  this  report  a  table  marked 
Charities  Exhibit  “B,”  showing  a  comparison  of  the 
amounts  spent  by  other  cities  for  charity.  The  cities  se¬ 
lected  for  comparison  are  the  four  cities  listed  in  the 
United  States  Census  immediately  above  Birmingham 
as  to  population,  and  the  four  cities  immediately  be¬ 
low  Birmingham. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

P.  G.  SHOOK. 


\ 


48 


RECREATION  EXHIBIT  “A.” 


AN  ORDINANCE  TO  CREATE  A  DEPARTMENT 
OF  PUBLIC  RECREATION  FOR  THE  CITY 
OF  BIRMINGHAM. 

BE  IT  ORDAINED  BY  THE  BOARD  OF 
COMMISSIONERS  OF  THE  CITY  OF  BIRMING¬ 
HAM:  '  ;  ^ 

Section  1.  That  there  be  and  is  hereby  created  and  es¬ 
tablished  in  the  City  of  Birmingham  a  department  to  be  known  as 
the  Department  of  Public  Recreation. 

Sec.  2.  That  this  department  shall  be  in  charge  of  a  su¬ 
perintendent  of  recreation  who  shall  give  his  entire  time  to  the 
work,  and  such  assistants  as  the  City  Commission  shall  from 
time  to  time  appoint. 

Sec.  3.  That  the  superintendent  of  recreation  and  his 
assistants  shall  be  appointed  by  the  City  Commission,  and  shall 
hold  office  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Commission. 

(2)  They  shall  receive  such  salary  as  the  Commission 
shall  from  time  to  time  fix. 

[  (3)  The  Superintendent  of  Recreation  (shall  execute  a 

bond  with  some  responsible  guaranty  company  for  the  faithful 
performance  of  his  duties,  which  shall  be  payable  to  the  City 
of  Birmingham,  for  the  sum  of  three  thousand  dollars 
($3000.00). 

Sec.  4.  That  the  department  of  recreation  shall  have  power 
to,  and  it  shall  be  its  duty  to  create,  organize,  conduct  and  super¬ 
vise  play,  grounds,  public  baths,,  evening  recreation  centers,  con¬ 
certs,  celebration  of  holidays,  and  all  other  matters  pertaining 
thereto  and  relating  to  the  recreational  welfare  of  the  people  of 
Birmingham. 


49 


f 


(2)  It  shall  encourage  and  promote  wholesome  home 
recreation. 

(3)  It  shall  co-operate  with  the  Board  of  Education,  the 
Library  Board  and  all  other  public  and  private  organizations  that 
are  providing  recreation  for  the  people  of  Birmingham. 

(4)  It  shall  make  investigations  of  the  recreation  needs 
of  the  City,  and  its  various  recreational  facilities,  and  shall  en¬ 
deavor  to  utilize  these  facilities  for  their  full  capacity  to  meet 
the  people’s  recreational  needs. 

(5)  It  shall  make  investigations  from  time  to  time  to  learn 
what  recreation  is  being  furnished  by  other  departments  or  or¬ 
ganizations  in  order  to  prevent  duplication  and  waste. 

Sec.  5.  It  shall  use  for  conducting  its  work  and  activities: 

(1)  Such  park  party  or  other  City  property  as  the  Com¬ 
mission  may  from  time  to  time  set  aside  or  provide. 

\ 

(2)  Also,  by}  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Edu¬ 
cation,  such  school  buildings,  premises  and  property  as  may  be 
suitable  and  desirable. 

(3)  Also,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  owners,  such  pri¬ 
vate  property  as  may  be  suitable  and  desirable. 

Sec.  6.  The  City  Commission  shall  make  such  appropria¬ 
tions  for  the  maintenance  of  this  department  as  it  deems  proper. 

This  department  is  authorized  and  empowered  for  and  on  be¬ 
half  of  the  City  to  receive  and  accept  gifts  from  private  per¬ 
sons,  organizations  or  corporations  for  the  purpose  set  forth 
in  Section  4,  provided  such  gifts  are  first  approved  by  the  City 
Commission. 

The  Superintendent  of  Public  Recreation  shall  keep  a  com¬ 
plete  record  of  all  moneys,  property,  gifts,  etc.,  received  by  said 
department  and  shall  make  a  written  report  of  same  to  the  Com¬ 
missioner  of  Streets  and  Parks  at  the  end  of  each  month,  show¬ 
ing  in  detail  the  list  of  all  moneys,  property,  gifts,  etc.,  received 
by  said  department  during  such  month,  and  how  much  moneys, 
property,  gifts,  etc.,  are  expended. 


50 


APPENDIX  VIII. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  January  6,  1915. 

Mr.  H.  U.  Sims,  Chairman  Investigating  Committee 
of  the  City  of  Birmingham,  Alabama. 

Dear  Sir: — Your  committee  appointed  to  investi¬ 
gate  the  Departments  of  Building  Inspector,  Plumb¬ 
ing  Inspector,  Electrical  Inspector  and  Weights  and 
Measures,  begs  to  report  that  I  have  visited  all  of 
these  Departments  and  found  all  of  them  self-sustain¬ 
ing  and  a  source  of  revenue  to  the  City  except  that  of 
Weights  and  Measures,  which  is  furnished  $100.00  per 
month  for  its  maintenance. 

The  Building  Inspector’s  office  is  in  charge  of — 
W.  O.  Matthews  at  a  salary  of,  per  annum _ $2,000.00 


Four  Assistant  Inspectors  at  per  each, 

$1,080.00  _  4,320.00 

One  Clerk _  1,080.00 


Total  salaries _ $7,400.00 

Plumbing  Inspector — 

Chief  Inspector  Chas.  E.  Eckelre  at  a  salary  $2,000.00 
Four  Assistant  Inspectors  at  $110  per  month  5,280.00 
One  Clerk  at  $75.00  per  month -  900.00 


Total  salaries - $8,180.00 

Electrical  Inspector — 

W.  H.  Abernathy,  Inspector - $1,740.00 

Two  Assistant  Inspectors,  $92.50  per  month  2,220.00 
One  Assistant  Inspector,  $102.50 -  1,230.00 


Total _ - _ $5,190.00 

So  far  as  I  am  able  to  learn  these  Departments 
are  all  run  for  the  protection  of  the  general  public 
without  favor  or  prejudice. 


Respectfully  submitted, 

GEO.  C.  ELLIS. 


51 


APPENDIX  IX. 


Ensley,  Ala.,  January  5,  1915. 

Mr.  H.  U.  Sims,  Chairman  Investigating-  Committee, 
Birmingham,  Ala. 

Dear  Sir: — Owing  to  the  limited  time  the  writer 
has  had  in  collecting  data  and  information  regarding 
the  North  Birmingham  Water  Works  and  Electric 
Eight  Plant  and  the  comparatively  incomplete  infor¬ 
mation  available,  one  can  only  give  an  idea  as  to 
what  the  possibilities  of  these  plants  may  be.  It  ap¬ 
pears  from  the  general  statement  of  the  City  of  Bir¬ 
mingham  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  September  30, 
1914,  that  the  receipts  for  electric  current  amounted 
to  $10,816.92  and  the  operating  expense  amounted  to 
$10,484.74,  showing  a  profit  of  $331.98.  This  state¬ 
ment  has  not  taken  into  account,  however,  plant  de¬ 
preciation,  interest  on  investment  and  overhead  ex¬ 
pense,  nor  has  credit  been  given  for  a  number  of  arc 
and  tungsten  lights  which  are  used  for  street  light¬ 
ing  for  the  reason  that  these  items  are  to  offset  in 
part  the  interest  on  the  bonds. 

From  the  condition  of  the  plant  and  equipment  it 
would  not  seem  desirable  to  consider  a  further  devel¬ 
opment  of  this  property,  and  it  does  not  appear  that 
the  operating  expenses  could  be  curtailed.  If  a  com¬ 
plete  statement  were  made  of  the  plant,  the  writer 
believes  it  would  show  an  actual  loss.  It  is  the 
writer’s  belief  that  a  lease  or  contract  could  be  made 
with  the  B.  R.,  L.  &  P.  Co.  whereby  they  would  take 
over  and  operate  the  plant  and  equipment  and  pay  the 
City  therefor  a  substantial  amount  in  keeping  with 
their  income  from  the  property  through  which  the 
City  could  show  an  actual  cash  revenue  that  could  be 
applied  to  more  needful  and  beneficial  things  which 
the  City  requires. 


52 


The  general  statement  also  shows  that  the  re¬ 
ceipts  from  the  Water  Works  amounts  to  $20,106.28 
and  the  expenditure  of  $19,826.65,  or  a  profit  of 
$280.63.  In  this  Department,  like  the  electrical,  they 
have  not  credited  the  Water  Plant  with  fire  hydrants, 
and  neither  have  they  taken  into  account  depreciation, 
interest  and  overhead  expense,  which  if  included  may 
not  show  as  large  a  loss  as  the  Electric  Eight  Plant, 
but  would  be  sufficient  to  make  it  seem  desirable  to 
dispose  of  the  plant  in  some  way.  The  further  cur¬ 
tailing  of  expenses  in  this  Department  seems  imprac¬ 
tical  with  no  apparent  promising  development  of  the 
plant  unless  it  be  considered  as  a  nucleus  for  a  water 
works  system  for  Greater  Birmingham.  In  the  pres¬ 
ent  condition  of  the  City’s  finances  this  Avould  seem 
doubtful,  and  I  believe  some  arrangement  could  be 
worked  out  with  the  Birmingham  Water  Works  Co. 
whereby  the  City  could  get  some  actual  returns  in 
cash,  which  could  be  applied  to  the  more  needful 
things  of  Birmingham’s  requirements. 

I  am  advised  that  there  is  no  legal  complications 
which  would  prevent  the  working  out  of  some  plan 
between  the  B.  R.,  L.  &  P.  Co.,  the  Water  Works 
Company  and  the  City. 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  F.  HIEEEKE. 

APPENDIX  X. 

Report  of  L.  Sevier  and  H.  U.  Sims  on  the  Schools. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Sub-Committee: — We  have  to  report 
that  within  the  available  time  allowed  us  for  examining  so 
large  a  department  of  the  City  government  as  the  School  Sys¬ 
tem,  we  have  covered  sufficient  ground  to  enable  us  to  form 
our  own  opinion  upon  its  general  economic  efficiency,  but,  of 
course,  were  unable  to  form  our  own  opinions  upon  the  de- 

53 


tails.  Birmingham  has  24,356  scholars  attending  its  public 
schools,  and  has  55  separate  school  establishments,  many  of 
which  embrace  several  buildings  as  one  school.  There  are  18 
such  additional  temporary  buildings,  constructed  or  leased. 
We  have  more  scholars  attending  our  public  schools  than 
Atlanta,  and  more  schools  provided  for  them ;  but  the  greater 
area  of  Birmingham  requires  a  greater  number  of  separate 
schools, and  we  would  therefore  expect  to  find  a  proportionately 
greater  number  of  teachers.  On  the  contrary,  however,  At¬ 
lanta  has  more  teachers  than  Birmingham,  and  the  average 
number  of  pupils  assigned  to  a  teacher  in  the  Atlanta  public 
schools  is,  therefore,  slightly  less  than  ours.  The  same  is  also 
true  in  the  case  of  Memphis  and  Richmond,  but  in  Nashville 
the  average  number  of  pupils  per  teacher  is  as  great  as  in  Bir¬ 
mingham.  Of  course,  the  Southern  cities  have  much  less 
money  for  their  schools  than  those  in  the  North  and  Middle 
West. 

Our  teachers  have  from  21  to  88  pupils,  the  average  being 
44,  each  under  their  individual  instruction ;  but  in  the  schools 
we  visited  the  pupils  appeared  to  be  thoroughly  under  the 
teacher’s  influence,  and  in  the  white  schools  at  present  suffi¬ 
ciently  provided  for  in  room  and  appointments  except  per¬ 
haps  in  those  instances  where  old  frame  buildings  are  in  use. 
Practically  no  increase  of  attendance  could  be  accommodated, 
however;  and  if  the  past  few  years  indicate  what  may  be  ex¬ 
pected  in  future,  more  buildings  must  be  provided  in  almost 
every  quarter  for  next  year. 

One  of  the  Ensley  districts,  the  North  Birmingham  dis¬ 
trict,  the  Gate  City  district,  and  one  or  more  other  districts 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  City  require  buildings  at  once;  and 
all  the  negro  schools  seem  to  be  in  a  terrible  plight,  both  as  to 
the  condition  of  the  buildings  and  the  available  room.  We  are 
also  in  sad  need  of  another  high  school,  unless  the  high  school 
attendance  is  to  be  limited  by  a  return  to  the  tuition  charge  at 
one  time  in  force. 

But  all  this  is  apart  from  the  purpose  of  our  report.  Bir¬ 
mingham  spends  much  less  on  her  public  schools  than  any 

54 


other  city  of  anything  like  her  population  and  territory ;  and 
the  fund  applied  to  our  school  system  with  one  exception 
seems  to  be  expended  with  good  judgment  and  economy.  It 
must  be  increased  instead  of  being  reduced.  That  exception 
is  the  free  school  books.  Free  school  books  should  never  have 
been  introduced  until  compulsory  education  shall  be  estab¬ 
lished.  But  now  that  we  have  them,  of  course  it  is  hard  to  cut 
them  off.  Without  dwelling  further  on  that  injudicious  ex¬ 
penditure  we  have  a  few  recommendations  to  make,  rather  to 
avoid  the  possibility  of  waste  than  to  correct  any  material 
waste  at  present  existing.  We  cannot  see  why  there  must  be 
a  purchasing  agent  for  the  Board  of  Education  separate  from 
that  for  the  general  City  government.  Moreover  by  having 
the  City’s  general  purchasing  agent  purchase  for  the  Board  of 
Education  a  small  salary  would  be  saved. 

We  think  the  City  Comptroller  should  keep  classified 
statements  of  the  expenditures  of  the  Board  of  Education  just 
as  he  does  for  the  general  government,  so  that  from  the  Comp¬ 
troller’s  statements,  as  well  as  from  the  Board  of  Education, 
the  public  can  learn  exactly  what  salaries  are  paid  to  teachers 
and  how  many  teachers  get  the  salaries  of  each  class.  We 
have  been  given  by  Dr.  Phillips  a  list  of  the  classes  of  salaries 
paid  in  the  schools,  and  the  number  of  teachers  in  each  class, 
which  we  hereto  attach.  Further  details  of  salary  expendi¬ 
tures  we  have  not  obtained,  because  we  have  not  had  time  to 
get  it  from  the  Board  of  Education,  and  for  the  City  Comp¬ 
troller  to  furnish  it  would  require  some  time. 

Respectfully, 

E.  SEVIER, 

HENRY  UPSON  SIMS. 


Birmingham  Public  Schools  Salary  Schedule,  1914-1915. 

High  Schools :  Min.  An.  Inc.  Max. 

Principal — 20  rooms  or  over - $2,000  $100  $3,000 

Principal — 12  rooms  and  under  20  1,500  100  2,500 

Vice-Principal — 20  rooms  or  over 

(36  weeks)  _  1,200  100  2,000 


00 


Heads  of  Departments — 20  rooms 


or  over  (36  weeks) 

800 

100 

1,800 

Class  Instructors  (36  weeks) 

650 

75 

1,400 

Assistant  Instructors  (36  weeks)  — 

450 

45 

900 

Elementary  Schools: 

Principal — 20  rooms  or  over 

1,500 

100 

2,500 

Principal — 12  rooms  and  under  20 

1,200 

100 

2,000 

Principal — 7  rooms  and  under  12 _ 

900 

75 

1,500 

Principal — under  7  rooms  (36  wks) 

720 

45 

1,000 

Grade  Instructor  (36  weeks) 

450 

45 

810 

Assistant  Grade  Instructor — salary 
based  on  time  and  work  re¬ 
quired. 

Special  Departments: 

Supervisor  Manual  Training 

1,200 

1,00 

2,000 

Asst.  Supervisor  Manual  Training 

750 

75 

1,500 

High  School  Instructor  Manual 
Training 

675 

75 

1,400 

Elementary  Instructor  Manual 
Training 

540 

45 

1,000 

Supervisor  Vocal  Music 

900 

100 

1,800 

Asst.  Supervisor  Vocal  Music _ 

750 

75 

1,400 

High  School  Instructor  Vocal 
Music 

750 

75 

1,400 

Elementary  Instructor  Vocal 
Music 

540 

45 

1,000 

Supervisor  Physical  Culture 

900 

100 

1,800 

Asst.  Supervisor  Physical  Culture 

750 

75 

1,400 

High  School  Instructor  Physical 
Culture 

650 

75 

1,400 

Elementary  Instructor  Physical 
Culture 

540 

45 

1,000 

Supervisor  Household  Arts 

900 

100 

1,800 

High  School  Instructor  House¬ 
hold  Arts 

675 

75 

1,400 

Elementary  Instructor  Household 
Arts 

540 

45 

1,000 

5G 


Supervisor  Freehand  Drawing - 

900 

100 

1,800 

Asst.  Supervisor  Freeh’d  Drawing 

750 

75 

1,500 

Fligh  School  Instructor  Freehand 
Drawing 

675 

75 

1,400 

Elementary  Instructor  Freehand 
Drawing 

540 

45 

1,000 

Supervisor  Primary  Work 

700 

100 

1,500 

Supervisor  Kindergarten  Work _ 

700 

100 

1,500 

Supervisor  Penmanship 

700 

100 

1,500 

Supervisor  Home  and  School  Gar¬ 
dening 

700 

100 

1,500 

Normal  School  Instructor 

650 

75 

1,250 

Assistant  Instructors — according  to 
time  and  work  required. 


Number  of  Teachers  in  Birmingham  Public  Schools  with 
Salaries  Indicated — October,  1914. 


White. 


No.  Teachers.  Months. 


Between 
Stated  Amounts 
Salary. 


Superintendent. 

Assistant  Superintendent. 


Total _ 

Department  Supervisors. 


Total 


1 

12 

$5000 

1 

12 

3000 

2 

*  * 

1 

12 

$2000 

3 

12 

1500—  1800 

6 

12 

1200—  1500 

10 

2 

12 

2200—  3000 

5 

12 

2000—  2200 

4 

12 

1800—  2000 

4 

12 

1500—  1800 

8 

12 

1200—  1500 

Supervising  Principals. 


4  .  12  1000—  1200 

Total _ 27 


Instructors  Under  Department  Supervisors. 


6 

9 

1000— 

1250 

11 

9 

810— 

1000 

9 

9 

540— 

810 

2 

9 

450— 

540 

Total 

28 

High  Schools 

» 

6 

9 

1500— 

1800 

10 

9 

1200— 

1500 

7 

9 

1000— 

1200 

13 

9 

810— 

1000 

13 

9 

540— 

810 

Total 

49 

Elementary  Schools. 

27 

9 

810— 

900 

57 

9 

720— 

810 

105 

9 

630— 

720 

126 

9 

540— 

630 

68 

9 

450— 

540 

Total 

383 

Registrars,  Supernumeraries  and 

Laboratory  Assistants. 

22 

9 

90— 

450 

Total 

-  22 

Total  White _ 521 


58 


Trained  Nurses. 


Negro. 

No.  Teachers.  Months. 


2 


Total _ 2 

Principals. 

1 
2 
2 
5 

10 

3 

5 

1 

*2 

Total _ 11 

Elementary  Schools. 

6 
17 
65 
26 

**5 

Total _ 119 

Total  Negro _ 142 


Total 

High  School. 


9 


9 

9 

9 

9 


9 

9 

9 

9 


9 

9 

9 

9 

9 


Salary. 


450 


1325 
900—  1000 
675—  900 

450—  675 


630—  810 
400—  630 
350—  400 
225—  350 


500—  630 
405—  500 
300—  405 
270—  300 
225 


Grand  Total _ 663 

^Registrar  and  supply. 
^'^Supply. 


59 


RECREATION— EXHIBIT  “B” 

What  Birmingham  is  Paying  Compared  to  Other  Cities. 

The  report  will  show  that  it  costs  Birmingham  on  an  aver¬ 
age  of  one  cent  plus  per  child  per  day,  which  I  think  is  lower 
than  in  any  city  in  the  United  States  doing  the  kind  of  work 
we  are,  and  reaching  the  various  classes  of  Greater  Birming¬ 
ham,  both  young  and  old,  of  both  sexes  and  expanding  the 
work  at  the  same  time. 

Philadelphia. 

From  a  Philadelphia  report : — The  cost  of  operating  play¬ 
grounds  was  3.41  cents  per  day  in  1913,  compared  to  4.16  cents 


per  child  per  day  for  1912. 

The  cost  of  operation  was _ $  80,612.00 

Cost  of  construction  and  development _  99,127.00 

Overhead  charges  from  all  departments _  10,288.00 


Cost  of  operation  and  construction _ $190,027.00 

Baltimore. 


Children’s  Playground  Association  of  Baltim^ore,  which 
deals  with  the  children  alone :  In  the  past  year  1912,  the  ac¬ 
tual  attendance  was  506,606  children  at  an  average  cost  per 
child  attending  of  two  (2)  cents. 

Chicago. 

It  cost  the  city  of  Chicago  3  cents  per  bather  in  the  swim¬ 
ming  pool. 

Chicago  Special  Park  Commission,  1913 : 


Playground  expenditures _ $  53,372.34 

Bath  Beach  expenditures _  199,801.30 

City  Forestry  expenditures _  7,188.82 

Park  expenditures _  46,168.82 

(They  have  charge  of  twenty  parks.) 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Park  maintenance  fund  for  1910 _ $156,997.33 

(This  includes  playgrounds.) 

St.  Louis. 


From  St.  Louis  report: — St.  Louis  has  issued  only  $670,- 
000.00  of  bonds  for  parks  since  1875.  At  present  are  asking 

60 


for  a  bond  issue  of  at  least  $2,750,000  be  voted  for  park  and 
playground  purposes. 

Cincinnati. 

On  November  4th  the  qualified  electors,  by  a  two-thirds 
majority,  voted  the  Park  Commission  a  bond  issue  of  $750,- 
000.00  for  the  acquisition  and  improvement  of  parks  and  play¬ 
grounds. 

RECREATION  EXHIBIT  ‘‘C." 

Summer  of  1914. 

Apparatus  Erected  and  Money  Spent  for  Material  on  Play¬ 


grounds. 

I — East  Park — 1  Giant  Stride,  1  See-saw,  1  Swing _ $  45.00 

'Behrens  Park — 1  Giant  Stride,  1  See-saw,  1  Swing _  8G.50 

iAvondale  Park  _ 

Neighborhood  House — 1  Giant  Stride _  26.54 

West  Park — 1  Giant  Stride,  1  Swing,  2  Sand  Boxes__  83.30 

Ensley  Wesley  - 

Ensley  Park  - 

Martin  School — 2  Sand  Boxes -  17.50 

Lake  View — 2  Giant  Strides,  2  See-saws,  2  Swings,  2 

Sand  Boxes _  72.53 

North  Birmingham— 1  Giant  Stride,  1  See-sav/,  1 

Swing,  2  Sand  Boxes _  89.75 

West  End — 2  Giant  Strides,  2  See-saws,  2  Swings,  1 

Slide,  1  set  Baby  Swings,  2  Sand  Boxes -  264.06 

East  Lake — 2  Giant  Strides,  2  See-saws,  2  Swings -  200.50 

Woodlawn  Park — 1  Giant  Stride,  1  See-saw,  1  Swung, 

2  Sand  Boxes _  92.00 

Pratt  City — 2  Giant  Strides,  2  See-saw's,  2  Swdngs -  172.50 

Avondale  Wesley — 1  Giant  Stride,  1  See-saw,  1  Swing, 

Balls  _  100.00 

East  Birmingham — 1  Giant  Stride,  1  See-sawq  1  Swung  98.15 
Norvccod  Park — 1  Giant  Stride,  1  See-savc,  1  Swung--  98.15 


Total _ $1556.48 


61 


TOTAL — 16  Giant  Strides,  16  sets  of  Swings,  15  sets  of  See¬ 
saws,  12  concrete  Sand  Boxes. 

RECREATION  EXHIBIT  “D.” 


Recreation  Report. 


Month 

Playgrounds 

Supervisors 

Salaries 

June 

13 

17 

$846.68 

July  - 

13 

18 

935.01 

August 

16 

20 

913.34 

September 

16 

16 

395.00 

October 

17 

18 

427.50 

November 

19 

20 

468.33 

The  salaries 

for  June,  July, 

August,  averaged 

between 

$40.00  and  $75.00. 

The  salaries  for  September,  October  and  November,  were 
!$25.00  per  month. 

Proposed  for  January  (25) — Playgrounds,  including  all 

our  night  recreation  work _ .$525.00 

Salaries  $15.00,  $20.00,  $25.00. 

The  Recreation  Department  at  the  present  time  is  doing 
la  great  deal  with  Birmingham’s  employed  and  unemployed 
'classes,  going  on  the  theory  that  an  “Idle  brain  is  a  devil’s 
^ork  shop.” 

Also  as  Hon.  Robert  Speer,  formerly  Mayor  of  Denver, 
declared,  that  “Cities  are  measured  today  more  than  ever  be¬ 
fore  by  the  Happiness  of  the  People.” 

Z.  NESPOR. 


Alonth  Attendance  Average  per  day  Cost  per  child 

June  _  59,542  2282  Ipjc 

July  _  94,114  3619  1  c  minus 

August  _  73,379  2936  1  c  plus 

September  _  35,205  1408  1  c  plus 

Oct.  _  39,007  1500  1  c  plus 

Nov.  _  36,394  1450  1  c  plus 


62 


The  actual  attendance  from  July  Ist  to  January  31,  1913- 
1914,  of  last  year  (7  months),  was  94,082.  This  cost  the  city 
only  $2,266.25  or  less  than  2  1-2  cents  per  day. 


Monthly  Report  for  November,  1914. 

Atten- 

Playgrounds  Supervisors  Salaries  dance 

Avondale  Wesley  House — Tryphina  Chase _ $25.00  1390 

Norwood  Park — Annie  dWaux _  25.00  1079 

East  Park — Barbara  Ransom _  25.00  1796 

Ensley  Wesley  House — Mary  Rumph _  25.00  2732 

East  Birmingham — Helen  Graves _  25.00  1600 

North  Birmingham — Annie  Pollard _  25.00  1330 

iEnsley  Park — Francis  Youngblood _  25.00  2950 

Lake  View  Park — Inez  Smith _  25.00  2232 

(West  End  Park — Annie  Lee _  25.00  1965 

Woodlawn  Park — Ammie  Palmer  _  25.00  2275 

East  Lake — Mary  Palmer _  18.75  1100 

Robinson  School — T.  D.  Moor  (two  weeks)  6.25  900 

iPratt  City — Louise  Merkl _ 25.00  2980 

Avondale  Park — Ida  Mae  Allen _  25.00  2990 

Neighborhood  House — Mildred  Rumph _  25.00  1316 

Behrens  Park — Annie  Stillwell _  25.00  2050 

West  Park — Virginia  Allen _  25.00  2364 

Martin  School — Lillian  Puckett _  25.00  2865 

Loveman,  Joseph,  Loeb — Burr  Blackburn 

(two  weeks)  -  -  480 

All  Parks — Tom  Edwards _  25.00  - 

All  Parks — R.  W.  Brown  (22  days) -  18.33  - 


Total — 19  Playgrounds,  21  Supervisors - $468.33  36394 

Daily _ 1450 

Cost  per  child,  per  day — Ic  plus. 


P.  S. — The  month  of  December  it  cost  $475.00.  This  docs 
not  include  the  superintendent’s  salary,  which  is  $166.66  per 
month. 


63 


PARKS  EXHIBIT  NO.  ‘‘A.” 


Name  of  Park: 


Avondale  - 

Behrens  _ 

Caldwell  - 

Capitol  _ 

East  - 

Ensley  _ 

Hall’s  _ 

Idle  wild  - 

Lakeview _ _ 

Linn  _ 

iMagnolia  _ 

Mineral  Wells  & 
Reservoir 
North  Haven  __ 

Phelan  _ 

Rhodes  _ 

West  _ 

Woodlawn  _ 

Woodward  _ 


o 

O 


o 

o 


cT 


+-» 

(/) 


flj 

CTi 


a 


o 

a 

a; 


.$  126,000.00 
35,000.00 
60,000.00 
200,000.00 
125,000.00 
90,854.00 
60,000.00 
110,680.00 
30,000.00 
7,500.00 
60,000.00 


34,500.00 

6,500.00 

1,000.00 

70,000.00 

90,000.00 

2,500.00 

15,000.00 


Totals  _ $1,124,534.00 


T— I  Ci 

O  T-1 

O  W 
a 

Cfi  O 


< 


Oi 


u 

o 

OJ 

a 

> 

$  126,000.00 
35,000.00 
60,000.00 
200,000.00 
125,000.00 
90,854.00 
60,000.00 
110,680.00 


7,500.00 

60,000.00 


1,200.00  '  35,700.00 

_  6,500.00 

_  1,000.00 

_  70,000.00 

_  90,000.00 

_  2,500.00 

_  15,000.00 


$1,200.00  $1,125,7  34.00 


64 


PARKS— EXHIBIT 


Park  Maintenance  for  1913-1914 — Fiscal  Year. 


Park  Expenses: 

Salaries  - $9,396.67 

Expenses  _  674.60 

General  supplies _  24.01 

Repairs  and  replacements _  1,606.97 

Forage,  shoeing  and  care  of  horses _  360.00 

Fuel  and  power -  30.65 

Water _  135.08 

Street  improvements _  6,346.92 

Sewer  improvements _  992.92 

Avondale  Park  improvement _  77.60 

Capitol  Park  music _  600.00 

Ensley  Park  improvement _  381.01 

Lakeview  Park  improvement _ 1,051.76 

North  Birmingham  Park  improvement  846.62 

North  Haven  Park  improvement _  141.18 

Pratt  City  Park  improvement _  705.13 

Pratt  City  Park  pavilion _  985.30 

West  End  Park  improvement _  129.98 

Woodlawn  Park  improvement _  833.64- 


$25,220.04 


Park  Equipment : 

Equipment  _  64.00 

Total  park  maintenance _  $25,284.04 


65 


Parks : 


PARKS—EXHIBIT 
Salary  List. 


Month. 

1  Superintendent  - 

_  _ $95.00 

$95.00 

1  Keeper - - - 

_ _ 60.00 

60.00 

3  Keepers  - _ _  _  _  _ 

_  _  50.00 

150.00 

Day. 

1  Laborer  _  —  —  - 

_  -  2.00 

50.00 

3  Laborers  _  _  —  - 

_  _  1.50 

112.50 

1  Laborer  _  _  _  - - 

1.35 

33.75 

1  Laborer  _  _  - 

-  _  .50 

12.50 

17  Laborers - - - 

-  _  1.25 

531.25 

Total _  $1,045.00 


LIBRARY— EXHIBIT  “A” 

The  Public  Library  Board  spent  from  city  funds  during 
the  year  ending  September  30,  1914,  $12,000.02. 

The  character  of  these  expenditures  is  indicated  below: 

Binding _ $821.61 

Most  of  this  was  for  binding  books  worn  out  by 
use.  Some  of  it  was  for  binding  complete  volumes 
of  magazines  that  are  worth  preserving  for  reference 
use. 

Book  shelves _ $157.99 

The  shelves  were  crowded  at  the  beginning  of 
the  year,  and  as  10,000  new  books  were  purchased 
many  new  shelves  were  necessary.  All  shelves  were 


built  of  pine  at  a  low  contract  price. 

Coal  _ $69.00 

For  branch  libraries,  express,  freight  and  drayage _  67.06 

Furniture _ 147.47 


New  tables,  enlarged  loan  desk,  typewriter  desks 
and  chairs  for  Central  Library  and  tables  and  chairs 
for  new  East  Lake  branch. 

Insurance  _ 24.29 


66 


Lights  and  lighting _ _ _ 210.14 

Globes  for  all  libraries  and  current  for  the 
branches. 

Postage  _ $  21.00 

Printing  _  38.40 

Repairs  and  permanent  improvements _  112.47 

Salaries  _  9,497.17 


(See  itemized  list — Exhibit  “B”) 


Stationery  _  67.25 

Supplies  _  617.94 


Includes  cataloging  supplies,  application  blanks, 
book  cards,  borrowers’  cards,  typewriter  supplies, 
book  mending  material  and  other  similar  items. 


Telephone _  32.00 

Traveling  expenses _  32.50 


Expenses  of  director  before  his  appointment 
when  he  came  at  the  invitation  of  the  Library  Board 
for  a  personal  interview. 


Typewriter _  75.00 

Water _  8.73 


$12,000.02 


LIBRARY— EXHIBIT  “B” 

All  the  people  listed  below  were  on  the  staff  for  at  least 
several  months  of  the  fiscal  year  ending  September  30,  1914, 
at  the  same  salaries,  except  Miss  Robb  and  Miss  Gadihle. 
These  two  were  apprentices  without  pay  for  six  months  or 
more,  before  they  were  put  on  the  pay  roll  in  October.  The 
total  of  this  monthly  pay  roll  multiplied  by  twelve  gives  a 
sum  considerably  larger  than  the  salary  expenditures  of  the 
last  fiscal  year.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  members  of  the 
staff  were  added  near  the  middle  of  the  year.  The  additions 
to  the  staff  became  necessary  because  of  the  large  number  of 
books  that  were  added  after  the  book  fund  campaign,  and  be¬ 
cause  of  the  greatly  increased  use  of  the  library  by  the  public. 
(See  Exhibit  “C.”) 


67 


December  Pay  Roll. 

Carl  H.  Milam,  Director  and  Secretary - $208.33 

A.  B.  University  of  Oklahoma.  One  year  N.  Y. 
State  Library  School.  Ten  years  library  experience. 
Formerly  Secretary  and  State  Organizer,  Public  Li¬ 
brary  Commission  of  Indiana. 

Lila  May  Chapman,  Vice-Director - $90.00 

A.  B.  Wesleyan  Female  College,  Macon,  Ga. 
Graduate  Carnegie  Library  School,  Atlanta.  Eight 
years  experience.  Formerly  Librarian  Birmingham 
Public  Library. 

Mrs.  C.  P.  Engstfeld,  Cataloger _ $75.00 

Two  years  college  work.  Graduate  N.  Y.  Public 
Library  School.  Six  years  library  experience.  For¬ 
merly  Assistant  N.  Y.  Public  Library. 

Emily  Van  Dorn  Miller,  Reference  Librarian _ $75.00 

A.  B.  Sophie  Newcomb  College,  New  Orleans. 

One  year  N.  Y.  State  Library  School.  Four  years 
library  experience.  Formerly  assistant  Minneapolis 
Public  Library. 

Theresa  B.  Hood,  General  Assistant  and  Librarian,  East 

Lake  branch _ $60.00 

Graduate  Alabama  Synodical  College  for  Wo¬ 
men.  Graduate  Carnegie  Library  School,  Atlanta. 
Four  years  library  experience.  Formerly  assistant 


New  York  Public  Library. 

Doris  M.  Hanson,  Librarian,  West  End  branch _ $50.00 

Graduate  Wisconsin  University  Library  School. 

Mrs.  Edith  Edwards,  Librarian,  Ensley  branch _ $50.00 


Certificate  from  Indiana  Public  Library  Commis¬ 
sion  Summer  School  for  Librarians.  One  and  one- 
•  half  years  library  experience. 

Pearl  Sandifer,  Librarian,  Woodlawn  branch _ $50.00 

Certificate  from  Indiana  Public  Library  Commis¬ 
sion  Summer  School  for  Librarians.  Three  years  li¬ 
brary  experience. 


68 


!vlrs.  J.  D.  Ellis,  Librarian,  Avondale  Library _ $50.00 

Five  years  library  experience. 

Jessie  Bilbrey,  Stenographer _ $50.00 

Graduate,  Commercial  Course,  Central  High 
School,  Birmingham.. 

Lillian  Gregory,  Night  and  Sunday  Assistant _ $30.00 

Four  years  experience.  Librarian  Birmingham 
College. 

Ruth  Clem,  Attendant _ $30.00 

Apprentice  course,  this  library.  Eleven  months 
experience. 

Fannie  Partlow,  Attendant _ $30.00 

Apprentice  course,  this  library.  Sixteen  months 
experience. 

Sara  Robb,  Attendant _ $30.00 

Apprentice  course,  this  library.  Eight  months 
experience. 

Jeanie  Gadihle,  Attendant,  half  time  Ensley  branch _ $15.00 

Apprentice  course,  this  library.  Ten  months  ex¬ 
perience. 

Ruth  Chiles,  Sunday  Attendant,  Ensley  branch _ $4.00 

Maid,  Central  Library _ 20.00 

Three  janitors  in  branches,  each  $10.50i _ 31.50 

Summer  salary,  $8.50. 

One  janitor.  East  Lake  branch  (no  furnace  there) 

Total  present  monthly  pay  roll,  $954.83. 


6.00 


LIBRARY— EXHIBIT  ‘‘C.” 

Some  figures  that  explain  why  the  staff  is  larger  now  than 
it  was  a  year  ago. 

Some  Comparisons  for  Nov.,  1913,  and  Nov.,  1914. 

Percentage 
Nov.  1913  Nov.  1914  Increase 


Books  added  - —  - 

_  344 

1,055 

307fo 

Books  cataloged  _  - 

274 

1,118 

308 

New  borrowers  registered 

326 

1,137 

249 

Books  issued  for  home  use 

10,866 

23,339 

115 

Expenditures  from  city  funds- 

_  598 

$1,233 

106 

Library  of  1912-13  Compared  With  Library  1913-14. 

Year  ending  Year  ending  Percentage 
Sept.  30, 1913  Sept.  30, 1914  of  increase 


City  appropriation 

,  $7,677(1) 

$12,000 

56.3% 

Volumes  in  library 

,  28,064 

37,991 

35.3 

Net  gain  in  volumes 

during  year  _ 

.  3,749 

9,927 

164.3 

Home  Issue 

.127,102 

179,434 

41.1 

Registered  borrowers  __ 

.  15,094 

20,637 

35.6 

Number  registered  dur- 

ing  year _ 

.  3,094 

5,539 

79. 

Magazines  bound 

60 

115 

91.6 

Volumes  rebound 

551 

1,909 

246.4 

Volumes  catalogued  dur- 

ing  year 

.  4,764 

9,344 

96.1 

Visitors  to  reference 

rooms 

.  10,381 

14,421 

38.8 

Visitors  to  reading 

rooms  _  - 

.  45,406 

63,839 

40.5 

Number  libraries  in  sys- 

tern _ _ 

5 

6 

20. 

Number  people  on  staff  . 

8 

13 

62.5 

(1)  Estimated.  Library  was 

managed  by  School 

Board, 

and  the  library  expenses  were  not  kept  separate  from  other 
school  board  expenses. 


70 


LIBRARY  EXHIBIT 


No  person,  except  one  stenographer,  is  employed  in  the 
library  who  has  not  had  library  school  training  or  library  ex¬ 
perience. 

A  six-months  apprentice  course  is  given  to  those  who 
wish  to  enter  the  library  service  without  attending  a  library 
school.  Applicants  for  positions  as  apprentices  must  pass  an 
examination  showing  that  they  have  the  equivalent  of  a  high 
school  education.  The  beginning  salary  for  those  who  com¬ 
plete  the  apprentice  course  and  are  employed  is  $30  a  month. 
Promotions  are  to  be  m^ade  only  after  an  examination  is  given. 

Each  member  of  the  staff,  except  the  Director  and  Vice- 
Director  is  required  to  sign  a  time  sheet  morning,  noon  and 
evening.  Lost  time  must  be  made  up  at  such  a  time  as  is  sat¬ 
isfactory  to  the  Department  head. 

There  is  no  killing  time  while  on  duty.  Works  is  so  ar¬ 
ranged  that  every  member  of  the  staff  is  busy  every  minute  of 
the  day. 

A  General  Staff  meeting  is  held  once  each  month.  A  re¬ 
view  of  some  recent  book,  not  a  novel,  is  required  of  each 
member  of  the  staff,  talks  are  made,  and  there  is  discussion  of 
topics  of  interest  to  all. 

The  five  Branch  Librarians  meet  with  the  Director  for  a 
few  minutes  every  Wednesday  morning  to  discuss  the  library 
work  in  the  branches.  Following  this  meeting  they  spend  two 
or  three  hours  looking  up  reference  questions  for  their  patrons, 
and  doing  such  other  work  as  will  keep  them  informed  about 
new  books  added  and  new  activities  begun  at  the  Central  Li¬ 
brary. 

The  Library  Board  demands  of  all  its  employes  not  only 
a  good  general  education,  special  library  training,  and  a  defi¬ 
nite  number  of  hours  of  conscientious  service  each  week,  but 
also  a  genuine  enthusiasm  for  the  work  that  the  Public  Library 
is  trying  to  do. 


71 


LIBRARY  EXHIBIT  “E.” 


Annual  per  capita  cost  of  public  libraries  in  eleven  cities, 
five  next  larger  and  five  next  smaller  than  Birmingham : 


St.  Paul  _  .24 

Columbus _ _ _  .18 

Toledo  _  .10 

Oakland  _ .48 

Atlanta  _  .12 

Birmingham  _  .08 

Worcester  _  .36 

Syracuse  _  .29 

New  Haven _  .25 

Memphis  _  .13 

Scranton  _  .15 


CHARITIES  EXHIBIT  “A.” 


Mr.  P.  G.  Shook, 

Birmingham,  Alabama. 


January  5,  1915. 


Dear  Sir : — Replying  to  your  letter  of  recent  date  request¬ 
ing  certain  information,  beg  to  advise  that  the  following  items 
show  on  the  annual  report  of  expenditures : 


“Charity — Direct  Relief 


$693.17.” 


This  is  largely  for  bu3dng  railroad  tickets  to  get  desti¬ 
tutes  out  of  town. 


“Appropriations--- Charity  ” 


Anti-Tuberculosis  Assn _ $  3,800.00 

Bham  Humane  Society _  1,255.00 

Girls’  Home _  600.00 

Free  Milk  Depot  for  Babies _  600.00 


72 


Holy  Innocents  Hospital _  GOO. 00 

Jeff.  Count}^  Orphans’  Assn. _  1,200.00 

Mercy  Home  -  1,800.00 

Octavia  White  Home _  COO. 00 

,01d  Folks  Home -  300.00 

Old  Home  Hospital _ 1,200.00 

Pisgah  Home  _  600.00 

Salvation  Army  Rescue  Home _  900.00 

St.  Vincent’s  Hospital _  1,200.00 

United  Charities  _  600.00 

Volunteers  of  America _  604.25 

Free  Dispensaiy  (3  months) _  300.00 

iWelfare  Department  _ *1,929.91 


Total  charity _ $18,089.16 

Educational. 

Boys’  Club  _ $  2,217.82 


Total _ $20,306.98 


*The  Welfare  Department  consists  of  Mrs.  Searight  and 
Mrs.  Findley.  They  take  care  of  all  female  prisoners,  and  also 
many  females  who  are  not  prisoners,  but  in  a  more  or  less 
moral  disturbance. 

I  am  enclosing  herewith  also  table  showing  comparison 
of  amounts  spent  by  other  cities  for  Charity,  Libraries,  and 
Recreation.  The  cities  selected  for  comparison  are  the  four 
cities  listed  in  the  United  States  Census  immediately  above 

t 

Birmingham,  as  to  population,  and  the  four  immediately  be¬ 
low  BirminMiam. 

o 

If  there  is  any  further  information  you  wish,  kindly  ad¬ 
vise,  and  will  be  glad  to  furnish  same. 

Yours  very  truly, 

G.  WARD, 

President. 


73 


CHARITIES  EXHIBIT  ‘‘BA 


Payments  For: 


Columbus,  Ohio 

Recreation 

42,454 

Libraries 

35,802 

Charities 

Hospitals 

and 

Corrections 

51,235 

Toledo,  Ohio 

72,609 

18,534 

42,856 

Oakland,  Cal. 

142,366 

83,241 

6,512 

Atlanta,  Ga. 

60,123 

21,551 

152,935 

BIRMINGHAM 

10,735 

7,677 

34,359 

Worcester,  Mass. 

90,104 

56,500 

222,333 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

67,036 

42,385 

173,408 

New  Haven,  Conn. 

73,253 

35,393 

117,111 

Memphis,  Tenn. 

134,944 

18,234 

76,494 

Rank  of  Birmingham. 

9 

9 

8 

74 


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